


Choreography

by meathermac



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: (except for brooke), Angst, F/F, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Like, M/M, More Relationships to be added, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Underage Drinking, and everyone hates chloe, and he has depression - explained in chapter 11, boyf riends — Freeform, everyone loves the jake/michael friendship so i'll mention it in the tags, everyone really really hates her, i have no idea what im supposed to put here, i never update these tags god, i should say that rich n chlo n brooke n jenna are really minor characters at first, it focuses on jer n chris n jake n mike, literally one of my favorite aus on the fricking planet, me: no fuck u, my brain: hey dani you should update the tags so 12 makes more sense, probably, rich nearly dies like twice, thespian!jeremy au, wOw if you don't like spoilers don't look at the relationship tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-12-23 23:36:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 33,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meathermac/pseuds/meathermac
Summary: Jeremy has been performing since seventh grade, him and his best friend Christine Canigula. He's popular, and he's got nothing to lose.Michael has ... no friends. It's probably his defining aspect to some people.Chance and alcohol brought them together once, and while Jeremy's determined to forget about that, Michael wants the opposite.When the hierarchy of the school starts to fall apart at the seams, they all try really hard to pretend like nothing is wrong.Even when literally everything is going wrong.(This AU belongs to arieryn/askthespianjeremy on tumblr! Not me! But I do have permission to write this, I swear.)





	1. the doors slam, you idiots

Jeremy opened the door to the auditorium, stepped inside, and it closed with a loud slam. The rest of the drama club turned towards him, and Jeremy smiled sheepishly and made his way over to his normal seat next to his best friend. 

“Jer, you can’t just do that, you know the door slams on the way in if you don’t shut it carefully.”

“Chris, it’s not my fault I get distracted when…”   


“What, did you realize how stupid that sentence sounded?” Christine teased. “C’mon, Jer, you’ve been doing this for… forever, now. It’s junior year.”

“I feel like you chastising me for forgetting that the door slams is like, a metaphor for something else.”   


She winked. “It might be. You never know.”

“Miss Canigula! Mister Heere! If your conversation is more important than what we’re talking about in class, you can share it with the rest of the class!” Mr. Reyes snapped.

Both kids shut up, and listened to their drama teacher talked about the auditions for this year’s play. They were doing Newsies (please don’t ask how a high school in New Jersey had gotten the rights to that, Christine and Jeremy’s running theory is something to do with blackmail), and Mr. Reyes was imploring the rest of the drama club to find some more guys to play the rest of the cast. 

After rehearsal, Christine and Jeremy walked out of the auditorium, both of them holding thick script packets.

Jeremy stared at his. “I want Jack, but like… this is the thickest script I’ve ever had, Chris!”

Christine nudged Jeremy on the shoulder. “You have to go for Jack, Jer. You’ll impress everyone in the audience.”   


“You don’t have to be nice, Chris. That’ll be you as Katherine.”

“Aw, Jer, you flatter me.” A loud noise to the left made both of them jump.

“Sorry! I forget how loud these lockers get when they slam,” the kid in the red hoodie next to them apologized.

“Look, Jeremy, your soulmate.” Christine snickered.    


“ _ Christine Canigula, I am going to murder you in your sleep. _ ”

Red Hoodie Kid laughed. “Living up to your nickname, drama kid. See you in the play.”   


“Yeah, you could have been slightly less dramatic.” Christine said as they walked away. 

“Dramatic is my middle name, Chris.”

“No, your middle name’s Oliver. I’m sorry about the soulmate joke, though.”   


“It’s not a big deal. Just got me flustered is all.” Jeremy shrugged. 

“Flustered, huh?” Christine smirked. “Anyways, do you wanna hang out after school today?”   


“Yeah, can you redo my nails? They’re chipped.”

“Of course. You left your hair up, y’know.”   


“I did? Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’ll survive.”   


Jeremy felt his hair tumble down onto his neck. “Oh, okay, which one of you did that?”

Brooke laughed. “It was Chloe, but it looks nicer down anyway.”   


“Hey, Brooke. Hey, Chloe.” 

“Yo, drama kid.” Chloe gave him a lazy wave. “How’s the play?”

“You two should have joined.” Christine complained. 

Brooke pointed at herself. “Can’t act.”   


“Besides, no offense, but I can’t kill my social standing like that, Chris,” Chloe said. 

“Chloe, anything that starts with “no offense” is offensive.” Brooke said.

Christine shook her head as the two girls walked off. “How did we end up friends with them?”

“Honestly, Chris, I have no idea.” 

“I’ll see you later, kay? Bye, Jer!” 

“Bye, Chris.” 

Jeremy kept his head down as he made his way over to his locker. Being friends with Chloe and Brooke and the rest of the popular crew gave him some sort of protection, but everyone loves to beat up on the theater kids. And Jeremy can only get called “gay boy” so many times. (Seriously, you’d think they’d give it up after the first time Jake stood up for him, but no, they keep doing it.)

Now, he is bi, and he’s not afraid to show that, but it still sucks. Turning the corner to his locker, he nearly ran into Rich.

“Yo, Jeremy.” Rich said. 

Jeremy’s known Rich since middle school, but the change from eighth grade to freshman year was jarring, and it kinda scared him. It still scares him, and it’s junior year. 

“Rich.”

“Whatcha doing after school?”

“Christine’s place.” Jeremy said absentmindedly. 

“Okay. See ya round, Jeremy.”

Strange interaction, but most of his and Rich’s were. He’d learned to not get suspicious years ago. 

Speaking of junior year, it’s weird to think that he’s kind of almost done with school. Currently, the only good thing about junior year (at least in Jeremy’s opinion) is the fact that he has a pretty good chance of getting the role of Jack. That, and he gets a big locker this year. 

What? It’s useful. 

Being relative friends with the popular crew has it’s perks. Jake throws killer house parties, and Jeremy and Chris get invited to them all. 

Christine hasn’t ever gone to one, of course, she’s got anxiety and ADD and a bunch of other shitty mental issues that Jeremy wants to personally fight that prevent her from going to parties, and Jeremy’s not gonna try and force her into something she doesn’t want to do. 

Well, Jeremy himself has only been to two of Jake’s parties, and one of them he stayed for about fifteen minutes, and the other - 

He doesn’t want to talk about the other one right now. 

Right now, his focus is on getting out of the school and home before anything gets screwed up. 

“Jerry!” 

“Chloe, I don’t have time to deal with whatever you need to say right now, I have to get home - “   


“Oh, chill out, Jeremy, I was gonna give you your hair clip back. Brooke dragged me away before I could give it back.” Chloe rolled her eyes. She handed the clip to him and smiled. “See you tomorrow.”   


“... oh. See you tomorrow, Chloe!”   


She waved goodbye as she made her way back over to wherever the hell her and Brooke always meet after school. Jeremy gripped the straps of his backpack, and started to weave through the clumps of students. The underclassmen moved as he got closer, but the seniors and some of the juniors weren’t as in awe or as scared of him as the rest of the school, so he had to chart a course through the hallway just to make it to the doors. Luckily, he made it through without getting stopped by anyone, and he got to the sidewalk before the bus kids did, and was able to get out of the place pretty easily. 

Jeremy spent most of his walk home thinking about the play. He was definitely gonna end up auditioning for Jack, he’s been the male lead in pretty much every school play. And as Christine was most likely going to end up as Katherine, those rumors were going to start up again. (They’ve played the female and male lead in every school play, literally half the school thinks they’re dating. The other half aren’t idiots and actually pay attention to the fact that the rest of their friends (and Jenna’s gossip gang, which confused Jeremy because they probably started the rumor in the first place) have said the rumors aren’t true about a million and a half times.) Anyways, he’d almost made it home now, and he just needed to finish his homework before - 

The doorbell rang as Christine opened the door. “Hello!”   


“You don’t need to ring the doorbell every time you come here, you know. I gave you a key for a reason.”   


“It’s just habit, Jer.” She shrugged. “Do you want to finish your homework or do you want me to redo your nails now so you can have an excuse to put it off for a little while longer?”

“Second option, please.”   


“Perfect.” They headed upstairs to his room, chatting about the school musical. 

“We still need more Newsies!” Christine complained. “I mean, we could always use more people in drama, but we have barely enough guys to play all the male parts and we can’t have only three Newsies!”   


“I know, Christine, but if we can’t get the rest of the group to join, we have no chance of ever getting anyone else into drama club.”

“You should ask the kid that we met earlier today if he wants to join drama,” she suggested. 

“... why?”

“Well, first of all, ‘cause we need more guys in the club, and second, because he’s cute and I can tell he likes you.”   


“Ha, how about no?”

“Jerrrrr,” she whined, “you should.”   


“Changing the subject.”

“Fine. If I’m not going to embarrass you that way, we’re going to talk about the party two weekends ago where you texted me, drunk, that you had just made out with a guy!”

_ Shit. _   


“I said someone. I vaguely remember that it was a guy.”   


“So you admit it?”

“Christine, can’t we just talk about, like, the fact that Great Comet just closed or something?”

“Great Comet didn’t close. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Come on, we have to talk about this.”   


“I don’t want to talk about it!”

“Do you remember what he looked like at all?”   


“Dark hair and might have had glasses, Chris. That’s all I can picture.”   


“ _ Might _ have had glasses?”   


“I think he did? I don’t know!”

“Hmm.” Christine thought for a minute. “You know who has dark hair and glasses?”

“If you say Red Hoodie Kid I will follow through on that murder threat.”   


“Sheesh.”   


“I’m kidding.” 

“I know you are. Wanna put on some music?”

“We have to put on Newsies, if you’re gonna.”   


“I know, I know. Here.” She hit shuffle on the Newsies playlist. “Now, lemme go grab that nail polish and you can prove to me that you totally don’t remember this guy.”   


“I can barely remember anything that happened that night, dumbass!” Jeremy called after her.

“And who’s fault is that? Shouldn’t’ve told me if you didn’t want to be interrogated!” she yelled. 

“I didn’t mean to tell you! I would have kept this a complete secret and the only two people that ever would have known are me and the guy I kissed, who I don’t even remember! Foolproof! But drunk me ruined it.” 

“I know that, Jer, but you told me, and now you’re gonna answer what I have to ask about it.”   


Jeremy groaned. 

“Jer, we’ve been best friends since freakin’ kindergarten. Even drunk you realized that you needed to tell me.”   


“Chris, I don’t know what you think you’re gonna do with this information! Find the guy?” Jeremy froze. “Please don’t try and find the guy. I don’t think I could live through that kinda humiliation.”   


“You brought this upon yourself,” Christine said as she walked back into Jeremy’s room, sitting down on the floor. She almost immediately jumped back up, saying “Lemme sing Watch What Happens really quick and then I swear I’ll paint them.”   


“I’ll get started. I really just need you to help with the right hand.”   


“Oh, get on my ambidextrous level, Jer.” She’d paused the music to search for a suitable microphone. “Can I use your hairbrush?”

“Yeah, sure.”   


“Thank you.” 

Jeremy got started on his left hand as Christine sang along to Kara Lindsay’s vocals. Once she was finished with the song (and satisfied with her last note), Chris sat back down and started to interrogate Jeremy some more.    


“Do you know what skin color he had, roughly?”

“Darker. But not like, black-dark.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are you taking notes or something?”

“Mentally.”

“Christine! If you tell anyone else about this, I will sabotage your Katherine audition.”   


“You know, sometimes I think you’re a little too dramatic.”   


“I’m drama kid. It’s my job description.”   


“Oh, ha, ha.” Christine sighed. “Alright. I won’t tell anyone else.” Jeremy mouthed a “yes” as she rolled her eyes at him. “But I will keep asking if you remember anything else.”   


“What? No!”   


“Do you want Jenna to find out?”   


“... no.”   


“Then you’ll let me interrogate you.”

“This is blackmail.”   


“You act like I care.” Christine grinned. “Now, since you’re apparently incapable of painting your right hand still, hand over the polish, Jer.”   


He smiled and shook his head, but handed her the nail polish nonetheless.

\-----

Michael is completely aware that the lockers slam. He didn’t do it completely on purpose, but he got a little bit distracted and didn’t really pay attention to whether he was shutting the thing slowly enough. 

He couldn’t tell which one of the two of them was redder at Christine’s soulmate joke. It was obvious Jeremy knew what she meant, but Michael first thought was  _ does she know? How could she possibly know -  _ because Jeremy’s next sentence was that he was going to murder Christine (he couldn’t possibly do that, they needed her to play all the female leads).

“Living up to your nickname, drama kid.”  _ No, no, no. That sounds rude.  _ “See you in the play.”  _ Good. Vague compliment.  _

Jeremy and Christine laughed and walked off. Michael rested his head against the locker.  _ How did he not say anything? _

_ Does he not remember anything? _

Michael doesn’t have a very good memory, but at least he knows that he definitely kissed Jeremy at Jake’s party. 

Hell, it was two weekends ago! How drunk was Jeremy?

Michael doesn't even remember the rest of the party, and he’ll be damned if he can remember what led up to the kiss. But he remembers Jeremy laughing, and then leaning in and then he remembers making out in that closet or whatever small enclosed space it was until Michael had to leave. 

He remembers panicking afterward because  _ holy shit he just kissed Jeremy Heere,  _ popular kid, male lead in every school play since seventh grade, and Michael’s crush since seventh grade. 

He played Eric in the Little Mermaid, okay, twelve year old Michael was smitten immediately.

And now Jeremy Heere doesn’t even remember that they kissed, which is  _ just fine, he’s totally fine,  _ and he’s definitely not freaking out. 

Michael grabbed his backpack and walked over to the bulletin board nearest his locker. He stared at the play sign-up sheet until a voice behind him made him jump.

“Not afraid of being called gay, are you?” Jake Dillinger asked. Michael laughed nervously. 

“Oh, I’m -”

Jake cut him off. “Michael, is it?” He nodded. “I know that you’re gay, alright? Jeremy might not remember, but I know for a fact that he told me he kissed you at the party.”   


Michael groaned. “How many people know, then?”

“I’m the only one who knows it was you. I believe he drunk texted Christine, but she doesn’t know who he kissed.”

He put his face in his hands. “And Jeremy doesn’t remember anything?”

“Not one bit.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing.”

Jake crossed his arms. “Well, it depends if you like him or not.” 

“I made out with him in a closet at a party. But no, I absolutely hate him,” Michael said sarcastically.

“You made out with him in a  _ closet?! _ I thought you two just kissed!”   


“Oh, say it a little louder, why don’t you?” Michael snapped. He froze. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, don’t tell anyone, please.”

“Michael.” Jake laughed. “I’m not gonna tell anyone, don’t worry. But if anyone asks, we didn’t talk. I have an image to uphold, loner boy.” He walked off.

_ Okay, Jeremy doesn’t remember anything. But Jake knows it was me.  _ Michael sighed. 

He picked up the pen and signed his name on the play sign up sheet. 

_ This could all turn out terribly.  _

“Shut up, voice in my head.” Michael muttered as he walked away from the poster. 


	2. jeremy heere? gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's first play rehearsal and more evidence that Jeremy and Chris need to calm down a little bit.

The weekend and the next school day passed by blurrily for Jeremy. The only thing he even vaguely remembered about the school day was something about an upcoming group project for Chem. It probably didn’t matter. 

The only thing he remembered about that day was the play rehearsal afterward. 

“Alright, I trust everyone’s had all weekend to practice their scripts!” Mr. Reyes said. “Except our latest member, Michael, but I’ll introduce him later. Miss Canigula, would you like to kick us off with your Katherine audition?”

“Actually, Mr. Reyes, could I have a word with Michael pretty quickly? Just to introduce him to the club.” Christine smiled. 

“Oh. Yes, I suppose you can do that. Well then, Jeremy, you can start with your Jack audition.” 

Jeremy nodded and hurried up to the stage. He caught a glimpse of Christine talking to the new kid, who he couldn’t see. “Hi, for those of you who don’t know, I’m Jeremy Heere, and I’ll be auditioning for Jack Kelly with the song Santa Fe, and, of course, some of my character’s lines.” He tried his best, even though there was one other contender and he was forced into auditioning so it could look like Jeremy had some competition.

Jeremy held out the last note of the song for as long as he could, then smiled at the rest of the drama club. They applauded, and Christine (who had come back from her talk with the new kid who Jeremy still had yet to see) cheered loudly as well. 

“Alright, we’ll go to our next audition…”

Jeremy sat next to Christine. “How’d I do?”

“Amazing as always, Jer. Seriously, you’d think you were a Broadway performer, not a scrawny sixteen-year-old.”   


“How is it that you always manage to insult me when you’re complimenting me?” Jeremy laughed. 

“Talent, Jer.” She relaxed in her seat. “You think I’m gonna have a little competition for Katherine?”   


“You’re a shoo-in for her. If you do have competition, it’s because they forced someone to audition against you.”

“Aw, thanks. Do you know if we have a middle schooler for Lex yet?”

“I think we should just make Rich do it, he’s short enough.”

“Oh, come on! Have you seen the height of those seventh graders? They’re like, four feet tall!”

They chatted on about the play until the other Jack audition, where they shut up and listened to the other boy sing. Jeremy and Christine talked off and on during auditions until Mr. Reyes got up on stage and clapped his hands. 

“Alright! So first of all, we did not end up getting a Crutchie audition, so ask around and see if anyone wants to play him! Second of all, we do have a new student today. Everyone, welcome Michael Mell!” 

Red Hoodie Kid - no,  _ Michael _ , walked out onto the stage and grinned. “Yo. I'm here probably just to do background dancing or run tech, so you probably won't see me much.” He smiled directly at Jeremy, and Jeremy felt his face go hot. 

Christine nudged his shoulder. “Calm the blush, dude. He didn't even wink at you or anything.” 

“Oh, shut up, Chris.” 

She laughed. 

“Anyways, I’ll let you guys get on with the rest of rehearsal.” Was it just Jeremy, or did Michael seem kind of desperate to get off the stage?

Christine waved to him. “You can sit with us, Michael.”

“Christine, do not invite him over here!”

“Don’t be an asshole, Jeremy. We’re drama king and queen. We have to be as accommodating as possible.”   


“Who made that rule and let it apply to crushes?”

“You admit it!” Jeremy flushed as Michael finally made his way over to the two of them. 

“Admit what?” he asked.

“Nothing!” Jeremy said quickly, Christine stifling a laugh.

“Okay…”

“Sit,” Christine instructed. 

“Why?”

“‘Cause you don’t have any friends!” 

Michael sighed. “Um, yeah, I know.”   


“Shoot, that sounded rude,” Christine muttered. “I meant here! Like, in drama.”   


“No, it’s fine, everyone loves to remind me of it all the time.” 

“I'm sorry about that.” ”

Michael shrugged. “It’s not your problem.”   


“Well, we can ask and see if you can sit with us at lunch!” Christine offered.

“I’d rather sit on my own than with the rest of your group, so no thanks.”   


Jeremy had stayed silent during the conversation up until now, when he spoke up with “Christine, let him do what he wants. I wouldn’t want to sit with Rich or Chloe if I wasn’t already on their good side either.”   


Michael gave him a thankful smile, and Christine crossed her arms. “Well, I’m just offering him a place to sit so he doesn’t have to be a loner all the time.”   


Michael bit his lip. “You know, I think I’m gonna find somewhere else to sit.”

As he walked away, Jeremy hit Christine on her arm. “Nice going, Chris.”   


“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to come off as rude.”

“I know you didn’t, just… “ He trailed off.

Christine nodded. “I get it. Next time, I’ll be sure not to scare your crush off like that.”

“Shut the hell up.”

“What was that? Say it louder?”

“Christine, I have no objections to screwing with your performance if you say that any louder.”   


She sighed. “Please don’t screw with my performance.”   


“Don’t announce my crush to the rest of the auditorium.”   


“It’s actors voice, Jeremy.”   


“That’s an excuse.”   


“I’m not gonna deny that.” She laughed. “But you need to figure out who you made out with at that party, because what if they come looking for you?”   


“It’s been two weeks and they haven’t. Either he’s forgotten too, or he’s got some anxiety issues preventing him from talking to me.” Jeremy took his hair clip out of his hair and started to fidget with it.

“Which do you think it is?”

“I wish it was the first one, but there’s an equally likely chance of it being the second one.”   


“You gonna do the math on that or…?”   


“No, of course not. Look, Chris, if the guy I kissed still remembers it and comes forward to talk to me, then I will politely inform them that I was drunk and I’m not interested.”   


“But what if they really liked you?”   


“Well, then, I’m still not gonna lie. I like Michael, Christine, you know that.”

“Technically, I hadn’t gotten you to completely admit it yet, so I’m counting that as a victory.”

Jeremy played with the hair clip some more. “You’re not gonna tell anyone, right?”

“No. I may be a little bit… inquisitive, but I’m no Jenna Rolan.”

He snorted. “Inquisitive.”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

Jeremy laughed. “Okay, let’s pay attention for a bit. Mr. Reyes is giving us death glares from the stage.”

Christine quieted down and tried to look interested in the same “don’t get mad if you didn’t get what you wanted” speech they’d heard a thousand times. Jeremy let his mind wander (come on, first of all, he knew he was getting Jack, and second, he’d heard the spiel so many times he could probably recite it from memory) and as it did most of the weekend, it drifted to Michael. 

They shared a Chem class, so he’d interacted with Michael before, and he’d seen him enough times to form an opinion on his looks, so his crush wasn’t totally invalid. 

However, there was still the minor problem of Jeremy getting blackout drunk at a party and making out with someone in a small space. He was pretty sure he’d only told Christine, but that was because there was text evidence of that. Jeremy totally could have told someone else  _ at  _ the actual party, but they evidently hadn’t told if he did.   


The thing that’s fucking with him the most is that he  _ knew  _ he liked Michael at the time of the party, so his brain is scrambling to figure out why he would have kissed someone else. 

His current list of reasons is empty. Jeremy has absolutely no idea why he would have done that.

Well, that’s not true. There’s one possible answer, but it’s so far out there he pushed it to the back of his mind and didn’t let himself get his hopes up.

Because come on, what are the chances it was Michael he kissed at the party?

\-----

“I’m not auditioning. I’m here to dance in the background, maybe be a tech.” Michael rolled his eyes. 

“Come on! We need a Crutchie really badly,” Christine said.   


Michael crossed his arms. “No, you don’t.”

“We do.”

“No, you don’t! I can’t act. I’m just here cause I can’t sit alone in my basement anymore after school.”

“That’s… kind of depressing.” 

“My entire life is kind of depressing, Christine. Give me three days. If you still don’t have a Crutchie, I’ll think about it.”

Christine gave him a look. “Michael, I know you need this club. I can tell you’re lonely, and you’re probably a decent actor. It’s a school play, anyway, if you’re not as talented of an actor as me or Jer, then no one’s gonna care or notice.”   


“Reassuring.”   


“Just think about it, okay? In the meantime, let’s go watch Jeremy audition.”

“Okay.”

In truth, Michael kind of wanted to audition for Crutchie, despite the fact that he’d listened to Newsies exactly twice last night and only vaguely knew the character. If he was playing a bigger part than a background character, he’d get more chances to hang with Jeremy. 

Honestly, Christine was a sweet girl, though she could be a little too blunt at times. After their conversation about Michael’s lack of friends (because, you know, not even the sweetest girl can let Michael forget about that), Michael went and sat a couple rows down, trying to ignore Jeremy and Christine’s conversation as best as he could. 

Problem is, they were pretty loud (apparently there's a reason they sit in the very back), and Michael didn't want to put his headphones on and be rude to the teacher, he couldn't very well ignore them. 

“.... Chris, if the guy I kissed still remembers it and comes forward to talk to me, then I will politely inform them that I was drunk and I’m not interested.”   


“But what if they really liked you?”   


“Well, then, I’m still not gonna lie. I like Michael, Christine, you know that.”

Michael was frozen in shock. Sure, he'd kissed him at the party, but since Jeremy hadn't acknowledged that, Michael was pretty sure he'd completely forgotten. Which meant that Jeremy liked him for himself and not his kissing skills or something else. 

_ Would Jake help me with this? _

When did the voice in his head become so stupid?

Jake Dillinger was a wild card. There was already a fifty-fifty chance of him telling other people about the events of the party (and while Michael wasn’t exactly popular, he wasn’t about to become the laughingstock of the school) as is, and he had pretty much explicitly told Michael that he wasn’t allowed to talk to him in public. So no, Jake was a backup plan if Michael got really, really desperate. (He might get that desperate, though, you never know.)

After play rehearsal ended, Michael made his way over to his locker, shoved his extra stuff inside, and grabbed his cellphone and math homework. He turned around, hoping to get out quickly before the rest of the after-school activity kids started to flood the hallways, and ran into - 

“Jeremy!”

“Hi. I’m really sorry about Christine, she can be a little blunt sometimes, but she means well.”

Michael waved it off. “I know. I’m not offended or anything.”

“Okay, good.”

Michael’s brain scrambled for anything to keep the conversation going. “Did you catch any of the info about the project in Chem?”

“No, I was pretty much falling asleep all day today.” Jeremy laughed softly. 

“Same, dude, why do you think I asked?”

“Ha, I don’t know. Well, I’ve got to get home. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Bye!”

“Goodbye.” Michael leaned against his locker and watched Jeremy walk over to where Jake and Chloe and the rest of that group were standing, then watched the group walk off, chatting loudly about something or other. Jake glanced back at Michael, and Michael saw him mutter something to Rich, who nodded. Jake broke off from the rest of the group and headed over to where he was standing. 

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to interact with you where people could see?”

Jake gestured around the now-empty hallway. “There’s no one else here, so I’m not technically breaking that rule. Listen, Michael, you’re gonna have to come forward eventually.”   


“No can do, Jake.”

“And why not?”

“Because… I just don’t want to, I guess. It would over complicate this whole mess.”   


“Would it?” Jake crossed his arms. 

Michael rolled his eyes. “Why do you care anyway? My problems have nothing to do with you.”

“Maybe I just wanted to help you out a little bit, Michael. You seem pretty lonely.”   


“That doesn’t really answer my question.”

Jake sighed, exasperated. “Is it so hard to believe that I don’t have any ulterior motives here, Michael?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I swear on my friendship with Rich that I don’t have any other motives here. I’m doing this because although I don’t want to ruin my standing with my friends by being seen with you, I have genuinely taking a liking to you so far, and I’d like to help you get with Jeremy.”

Michael took a deep breath. “Okay. I believe you.”   


“Cool. We have English together without anyone else super popular, right? I’ll see you then.”

“See ya.”

Michael was still a little suspicious, but hey, he had a plan. If Jake didn’t come to talk to him during English, then he wasn’t going to approach him at all. And if he did actually try and talk to Michael, then hell, it wasn’t like Michael was gonna turn down some help with this mess. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol ao3 isn't blocked so hello from my study hall
> 
> technically i should be writing my analysis essay but i sit in the very back so my teacher can't see what i'm typing


	3. chem projects are controlled by the universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This gets like... borderline pins and patches, sorry guys.

Like Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday passed by with no real distinction between the days. Christine had come over Tuesday night, but all they had really done was math and English homework. The most eventful thing that happened was a rather dramatic rendition of “Something To Believe In” between Jeremy and Christine. Michael (once Christine had apologized, since she genuinely felt bad) had gradually started to sit closer to the two of them during rehearsals.

Thursday, however normal it had started out, was the day that Jeremy wasn’t sure if he had done something to upset something up there in the universe because everything went -

Well, he can’t say horribly. If Jeremy wasn’t so damn awkward he’d probably be thanking his lucky stars.

Problem is, he is that damn awkward and therefore is absolutely terrible at situations that seem like they should only happen in romance novels or Christine’s old fanfiction. (If anyone asks, he didn’t say that. He’s not supposed to know about the Dear Evan Hansen fanfiction.)

Because who would have thought he’d ever get partnered up with _Michael_ for the Chem project?

Now, before anyone says that he should be grateful, he _is_ grateful that he gets some more time to hang out with Michael because they’d never really talked in Chemistry before.

But Jeremy knows he’s gonna end up screwing something up and then everything’s gonna go to shit.

“Alright, class, I have your list of partners for the group project!” the Chem teacher announced. There was a collective groan from the class, and a few muttered “why didn’t we get to pick?”s before she quieted them down. “Okay, we’ve got Rich and Nicole…”

Jeremy stopped listening after the first few names were called, laying his head down on his desk and ignoring the chatter of the students around them as everyone found their partners. When he felt a tap on his shoulder, Jeremy mumbled for the person to go away.

He heard a familiar-ish laugh. “Well, that’s not a very nice way to greet your partner. You want to pass this class, right?”

Jeremy lifted his head off the desk. “Michael?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. Something out there in the universe wants us to spend as much time together these days as possible.”

“Um, okay… Do you have any idea what we’re supposed to be doing?”

“Nope!” Michael said cheerily. “But we have a few weeks until it’s due, so we don’t have to figure that out quite yet.” He squinted at the board. “Discuss project with partner. Got it.”

“Are you like, blind without those things?” Jeremy reached for Michael’s glasses and took them off his face. Michael tried to grab them back, but he missed.

“Jeremy, I can’t see shit - “

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

Michael finally managed to grab his glasses back from Jeremy. “Okay, partnership canceled. Jeremy, you cannot be so stupid - “

“You never technically answered my question.”

He gave Jeremy a dirty look. “Three. You were holding up three fingers. Lesson 101 about working with me: i can’t see for shit without these things.”

Jeremy laughed. “Sorry, sorry. Just for the record, I knew you were gonna be able to tell how many fingers I was holding up. I just do it cause it annoys the heck out of people.”

“Okay, I can’t decide whether I like that about you or not.”

“You like it ‘cause you like everything about me,” Jeremy teased.

“Never, Jeremy, never.” Michael grinned.

“Christine said you might go for Crutchie if we still don’t have anyone?”

“Jeremy, listen, if I could act I would have joined drama a long ass time ago. I’m not auditioning for anyone.”

“Then why did you join theater?”

Michael tensed. “I needed some extracurricular activity to get my mom off my back about spending all my free time off school in my basement.”

“That’s… “ he trailed off.

“Sad? Depressing? Kind of weird? Yeah, I know.”

“I was gonna say that that’s kinda cool you picked theater, then.” Jeremy lied.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I would have figured you’d have gone for something more sporty.”

“Really?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

“You have the body for it and all.” _Did I really just say that?_

Michael smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, but no. I can’t do sports any better than I can act.”

“Then what _do_ you do?”

“Video games.”

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at Michael. “And that’s it?”

He shrugged. “Told you it was kinda sad.”

“No, I think it’s cool! I like video games too!”

“Really?”

Jeremy nodded. “I like DS games and stuff, I don’t know if those really count though.”

“Me too. I think they count, I mean, they’re not like, X-Box games, but I still like them.”

“Well, then, what’s your favorite? Video games, I mean.” Jeremy asked.

“Oh, Apocalypse of the Damned by far.”

“I’ve heard of that.”

“Yeah, but since I usually talk about that game for hours and we have…” Michael glanced at the clock. “Five minutes, I’m gonna change the subject.”

“As long as you don’t ask me anything about theater, ‘cause I have the same problem as you.”

“Dang, Jeremy, I have no other questions to ask you then.”

“Thought you were better at conversation than that, Mell.”

Michael went quiet. “Can you please not call me Mell?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks. You should probably go back over to your desk now, we’ve only got three minutes left.”

“Okay…?”

Jeremy grabbed his stuff from his desk as the bell rang and tried to catch up to Michael as he headed to his next class, but he couldn’t see him anymore, Michael had disappeared into the crowd.

“Jer!” Christine joined him, smiling. “How was Chem?”

“It was fine.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Just fine? Who’s your partner for the project?”

“Guess, Chris.”

“Michael? Isn’t he in your class?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Jeez, Jeremy, the universe either loves you or really freakin’ hates you.”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed.”

Christine shifted her books to her hip. “Dial back the snark, Jer. Lunch next, play rehearsal in three classes, and then we can go home. Do you wanna come over to my place tonight instead?”

“Sure.”

Christine grabbed one of Jeremy’s hands with her free hand. “Jeremy, it hasn’t even been a week and your nails are already chipped?”

“Chris, it’s a nerves thing and you know it.”

“What could you possibly be nervous about? You’re the lead in the school play and you’re popular. Also, your crush probably likes you back.”

“Ah, apparently I only keep you around to boost my ego.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m better than you and you know it.”

Jeremy laughed. “You sure are, Chris.”

She nudged his shoulder. “Let’s go get lunch, okay?”

“I don’t have any other options, so yeah.”

\-----

Jake set his stuff down next to Michael’s and took a seat.

Michael laughed. “Talking to me in public now, are we?”

Jake glared at him. “We went over this. No one popular is in this class except for me. So I can do whatever the hell I want.”

“And that includes talking to me, which I overheard Chloe once describe as “literal social suicide”?”

Jake winced. “Sorry about her.”

“You don’t need to be, I get used to it.”

“Yeah, I guess so. She’s still a little bit of a bitch sometimes, though.”

“A little bit?”

“A lot bit.” Jake admitted.

“There we go!”

He laughed. “You're not so bad, Michael.”

“And who told you I was? If it was Rich, I have no idea what he has against me, but he's probably lying.”

“Hey, Rich is a decent dude.”

Michael crossed his arms. “He's your best friend. Of course you'd say that.”

“Yeah, you're right. It's true, though.”

“Jake, no - “

“Shh, one of Jenna’s gang is looking at us.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “I know it's basically ruining your reputation that you have to sit with me in English, but you don't have to do that!”  

“Michael, just shut up for five seconds!” Jake snapped. After glancing around the room to make sure no one was watching them anymore, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I can't talk to you because Chloe can and will ruin me. And I know that sounds self-obsessed and rude, but I can't deal with that! She knows too many of my secrets already, Michael, that girl basically controls me.”

“So I can't interact with you in front of your friends because Chloe would do what? Kick you out of the popular group?”

“Yeah, she basically would because she's pretty much banned everyone in the group from talking to people on your level. And then, contrary to what you think, I wouldn't really be able to survive without the support of those friends.”

“What kind of dirt could she possibly have on you that could force the most popular boy in school down to the same level as me?” Michael said, doubtful and exasperated.

“Well, I don't know, what are _you_ most bullied for?”

“I don't get bullied as much anymore, but it was mostly for not being sporty, not having any friends, and being gay.”

Jake nodded.

“And since the first two don't apply to you, obviously, and the third one is hella unlikely, I don't see what your point is here, Jake.”

“Not as unlikely as you would think.”

Michael stared at him. “You're _gay_?”

“Shhh, you said that really loudly.” Jake glanced around the classroom furtively. “Not really? I think I'm pan," he whispered.

“Jake! That's awesome! You could use that to help so many kids at this school!”

“I can't, Michael, because the second I come out publicly is the second I stop being popular.”

“Ah. Right.”

Jake sighed. “I don't know why I told you that. I've literally never told anyone that before. I drunk texted it to Chloe, that's how she knows.”

“Well, I think you owe it to Rich to tell him. And just so you know, if Chloe ever does out you, you'll always have a friend.”

“Are we friends?”

Michael smiled and nodded. “We're friends.”

“Cool.”

Michael thought for a second. “Would you ever consider joining drama?”

“... why?”

“Why not? They still need more guys.”

“Yeah, no. I can't pretend I'm… wait.”

“Wait what?”

“You're in drama, aren't you? Do you like it?”

“Yeah it's surprisingly fun for a club I joined solely to get close to Jeremy.”

Jake shrugged. “I'll try it.”

“Really?”

“Sure. I can always drop out if I don't like it. Besides, my friends already know I do about forty extracurriculars. Drama will just be number forty-one to them.”

“You're actually considering this?”

“Listen, Michael, if we're friends but I can't talk to you outside of this class, I'd be willing to pick up an extra after-school club to get to hang out with you.”

“Sounds fake, but okay.”

Jake laughed. “That is a stale meme, Michael.”

“You're a stale meme,” Michael retorted.

“Wow. You need better comebacks.”

“Alright, class, discussion over, let's talk about how the theme affects the characters’ decisions.”

“Play rehearsal after school.”

Jake smiled. “Of course.”

After school at rehearsal, Michael led Jake up the stairs to his usual spot. “Jeremy and Christine sit in the next row up. And Mr. Reyes will probably drag you out on stage to introduce you, so be prepared. And speaking of Jeremy and Christine, they're here.” Michael waved at the two kids walking up the stairs.

Christine waved back and headed up the stairs more quickly. “Jake! When did you join?”

“Hey, Chris.”

“Do you know Michael?” She asked.

“No, he kidnapped me and dragged me into the auditorium.” Jake deadpanned.

Michael rolled his eyes. “No, that is not what happened. Meet the newest member of drama club, by his own choice, I might add.”

“That's cool!”

Jake rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Could you like, not tell the rest of the group about this?”

“Not tell the rest of the group about what?” Jeremy asked, joining Christine.

“Me. Being here.” Jake gestured around the auditorium.

Jeremy looked taken aback. “Oh. Hi, Jake. Is Chloe the reason?”

“Hi. Yeah, she is.” He looked around. “So, what do we do here?”

“Well, Reyes is gonna make you introduce yourself, and then we have… Chris, what are we doing today?”

“Well, we're gonna get lectured about not having a Crutchie for the fifth time this week and then we're doing… choreography, I think.”

Jake gave the two of them a thumbs-up. “Cool.”

Christine turned to Michael. “Have you decided what you're doing yet?”

“Yeah, I think I'll probably do background dancing.”

“The newsboys choreo?”

He shrugged. “Probably.”

Jeremy smiled. “Cool. I'm doing that too, today, just cause everyone is until cast list is up.”

“Nice.”

Mr. Reyes yelled for everyone to get in their seat, and while Jake had opted to sit with Jeremy and Christine, Michael stuck with his seat in the row below them.

“I heard we have a new student today!” the drama teacher said. “Jake, can you come down here and introduce yourself?”

Michael watched him walk down the stairs to the stage and wave to the kids in the stands.

“Hello, I'm Jake Dillinger, and most of you probably know me already but I'm here to do whatever Christine or Jeremy tell me I should do.” He smiled as the rest of the club laughed.

“Thank you, Jake. Now, can everyone join me on the stage so we can begin on the choreography for Carrying The Banner? This song is gonna be background Newsies and Jack and Crutchie, but Christine and the others are welcome to learn it too.”

The class shuffled up to the stage, muttering about how hard this dancing was gonna be. Michael saw Jeremy motion for Christine to go ahead as he waited for Michael.

“So? You decided to dance!”

Michael half-smiled. “I'm hoping I can. I've seen what the Newsies have to do, and it's equally impressive and intimidating.”

“It's pretty crazy. I believe in you, though.”

Michael snorted. “Thanks.”

“I'm serious!”

“I know you are.”

“Michael, have you ever danced before? Or sang?”

“Well, I did both of those over the weekend and every night this week, but like, not in public or anything.”

“Oh god.”

“Come on, I was decent at both of them.”

“I’m sure you were.” Jeremy patted his shoulder. “Now let’s go watch Jake fail at dancing ‘case I swear for a sports dude, he has no coordination.”

“Sports dude.”

“I don’t know what people call them!”

Michael laughed. “Me neither. I just know that’s not it. Now, I’m gonna blow you outta the water with my spectacular dance moves.”

“Mhmm. If you fall during the spinning and jumping, how much money are you gonna give me?”

“Ten bucks.”

“You’re on, Michael.”

“You’re giving me twenty if I can do it by the end of class.” Michael held out his hand.

Jeremy shook it. “Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahahaha place your bets on whether michael's gonna fall or not  
> jake will fall and several times over i can confirm that
> 
> @ eryn im very sorry im taking this in a very different direction


	4. i don't think high schoolers could actually do this but whatever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a little bit shorter! I like my endings to be dramatic.

“Alright, hoodie boy, I am going to show you how to do this next spin, you are going to fall and I am going to be ten dollars richer,” Jeremy said.

“Did you just call me “hoodie boy”?”

“Mhmm.”

“Mister Heere! I gave you permission to instruct Misters Mell and Dillinger on the dancing, not chat with them!”   


“Sorry, Mr. Reyes!” he called. “Alright, Jake, I don’t think you can do any of the spins -”   


“You have no faith in me.”

“It’s for a reason, Jake. I have literally no idea why you’re here, because you have the coordination of Brooke after we went on that tilt-a-whirl.”

“I’m offended. She literally ran into a pole.”

Michael stifled a laugh. “Jeremy, why don’t you show us how to do it?”

He shrugged. “Alright.” Jeremy turned to the other side of the auditorium. “Yo, Mr. Reyes, can you clear the stage?”

“Of course, Jeremy. Everyone, backstage or in the seats! Mister Heere, show us how it’s done!” 

Being one of Mr. Reyes’ favorites had it’s perks. 

Jeremy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and went into the routine he’d taught himself for the play. He spun and danced around the stage, trying to keep it so that he wouldn’t fall off the edge or hurt himself. After he finished, he turned to Michael and Jake, smiling. Christine and the rest of the auditorium clapped as the two boys stood there, slack-jawed. Jeremy grinned cheekily. “Well?”

“Holy  _ shit. _ ” Michael said softly. 

“Mister Mell! While I appreciate the enthusiasm for Jeremy’s performance, I do not tolerate that language in my classroom! You’d do well to remember that you have to copy that!”   


He sighed. “I do, don’t I?”

“Come on, hoodie boy, I’ll show you how it’s done.” Jeremy dragged Michael out into the center of the stage. “Okay, so you have to jump first -”   


“Jeremy, I am wearing  _ skinny jeans  _ \- “   


“Well, Michael, you chose to wear your hipster jeans to class today and if Christine can do high kicks in her skinny jeans, you can make this jump.”

“Fine. But I am getting my twenty dollars, Jeremy.”

“Mhmm. Okay, sure. Do the jump now, Michael.”   


Once Michael had tried the beginning jump at least three times, Jeremy nodded approvingly. “I think that if you can figure that out in a newsboy costume we’re all set.”   


Michael grinned. “Perfect. Now, hand over my twenty dollars.”   


Jeremy laughed. “Nuh-uh, Michael, you’ve got the spinning to do.”   


“Oh,  _ great _ ,” he muttered. 

“Okay, so, I believe we’re doing two spins instead of the three they do in actual show? But they’re still hard, don’t worry.”

Michael stared at him blankly. “I’m worried.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Okay, watch me again. Leg in, leg out. It keeps your momentum going.”

“Leg in, leg out - shoot, Jeremy, I’m gonna fall.” Michael grabbed onto Jeremy’s arm as he tripped over his feet.

“Ha! I win!”   


“Aw, dangit. Lemme try again - “   


“Watch me again, Michael.” Jeremy spun around once, then paused and looked at Michael. “Pay attention. Leg in, leg out.”

Jeremy decided to show off a little bit and went into the rest of the routine. Michael laughed a little and crossed his arms. “Jeremy, that’s not fair, you know I can’t do that!”

Jake stared at Jeremy. “Are there any roles where I don’t have to do that?”   


“Crutchie doesn’t dance. But I’ll only tell Mr. Reyes you’re auditioning if you admit you have the coordination of Brooke while dizzy.”

“Doesn’t Crutchie have a crutch, though?”

“Wow, how’d you work that one out?” Michael asked sarcastically. 

Jake hit him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m just saying.”

‘Yes, he does, but it’s pretty easy to work with. Now, admit it, Jakey D.”   


“Hold up. Brooke while dizzy or mister show off here while drunk?” Christine asked, laughing. All three boys tensed at the comment about Jeremy being drunk, and Christine narrowed her eyes. “Do you three all know something I don’t? I’ve seen  Jeremy drunk. He’s a freakin’ mess.”

“Just memories,” Michael said. 

“Reminded me of something else,” Jake added. 

Jeremy just nodded. 

Christine groaned. “That is called deflecting, and while I will respect it if you choose to not answer me, I hope you don’t mind if I ask what the heck that comment reminded you two of?” She waved her hand through the air. “I already know Jeremy’s reasoning, and I can’t tell you two that, unfortunately, though I think it’s the funniest thing… and I’m rambling.”

Michael shook his head. “I am not proud of that memory.”

“And I can’t tell you Jeremy’s secrets that he may or may not have accidentally shared with me.” Jake shrugged. 

“Wait, hold on, hold the phone, I do not remember telling  _ you  _ anything.” Jeremy folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, you wouldn’t remember. You were drunk. And so, the relevance to this situation.”

“Okay, what did I tell you?”

“I don’t think you want me to sa-ay.” Jake said in a singsong tone. 

“I have passed out on stage before, Jake, there is very, very, little that embarrasses me anymore.”   


“That sounds less embarrassing and more bad for your health.”

“Shush, Jake, it was both. Can you tell me what secret you have from me now?”

Michael and Christine watched the conversation like a tennis match, one of them occasionally chuckling at a comment.

“Fine. You remember my party three weekends ago?”

“Oh  _ no. _ ” Jeremy went white.

“Oh yes.”

“Oh my god,” Christine said, laughing. “Well, Jeremy, I swear I’m not the one who told him.”   


“I feel left out. Is anyone gonna tell me what’s going on here?” Michael interjected.

“Oh, you know what we’re talking about.” Jake waved him off. 

“Are we talking about  _ that _ or are we talking about something else?”

“Oh, come on, how does he know?” Jeremy whined. “We’ve been friends for like, three days!”

MIchael started at him, seemingly frustrated. “If you’d stop and think for more than five seconds, maybe you’d have figured out why I know.”   


“Hey, Michael, calm down - “   


“I’m calm. I’m calm, I’m totally fine.” Michael took a deep breath and smiled tightly. “So? What’s the secret?”

“Just - don’t tell anyone, okay?” He rocked back and forth on his heels. “I made out with a guy at Jake’s last party and now I kinda can’t remember who it was? Honestly, I swear he looked kinda like you, though.”   


“Alright, that’s it.” The bell rang. “Perfect timing. I’m done, I’m out, and I am going to storm out right now to emphasize my point.” Michael turned on his heel and walked out the auditorium doors. 

Jake sighed. “He left his bag. And he’s being an overdramatic idiot, too. I’m gonna go talk to him.” Jake headed up the rows of seats to grab his and Michael’s stuff. 

Jeremy put his head in his hands. “What did I do?”

Christine patted his back consolingly. “Well, you obviously said something, so I’d figure out what you said. He mostly got mad when you mentioned that you thought the kid you kissed looked like him, which, by the way, you never mentioned to me, thanks, and I think that you need to talk to him about this.”

He took a deep breath. “I know I never mentioned it to you, Chris, it was really that I was looking at him and -  _ shit _ .”   


“What?”

“I just…” He trailed off. “Michael really does look like the guy I kissed, Chris, he really does.”

“This is not the time for epiphanies, Jer, we’re in the auditorium still.”

“I am having a crisis here Chris, be supportive.”

She sighed. “Aleight. And you’re sure that he looks like the guy you made out with? It’s not just wishful thinking?”

“No, I can’t tell if my brain’s just screwing with me, ‘cause it might just be wishful thinking… but I’m at least ninety percent sure I kissed  _ Michael _ .”

\-----

“You can’t just storm out like that, Michael.”   


“I can’t deal with his goddamn obliviousness anymore, Damn it Jake, I even know he has a freaking crush on me, but he can’t put the pieces together and figure out it was  _ me _ , because it’s _ him _ , and I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do anymore, Jake!” The frustration in michael’s voice was balanced with the desperation and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, hey, Michael, you look like you’re about to panic.”

“I’m  _ not _ , I swear, I just - “ He froze. “Why did I never tell him it was me?”

“Um, probably because you thought he was going to think you were lying?”

“Right.” Michael exhaled sharply. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, Jake.”   


“Michael, you’re a great guy. And the fact the Jeremy is the most oblivious person in the world doesn’t make that any less true, I swear. Head up, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Michael smiled. “Thanks, Jake. See you tomorrow.”   


The other boy waved as he walked off. Michael waved and headed towards his locker. 

“Michael, wait!” Jeremy ran upto him, out of breath and smiling brightly.

“Jeremy, I - “   


Jeremy grabbed the back of Michael’s head and pressed his lips to Michael’s. The taller boy’s eyes widened, then shut tight as he kissed back. 

Michael gasped as they broke apart. “What the  _ hell _ .”

Jeremy stared at him. “Okay, you obviously liked it, you dumbass - “

“No, I mean - did you figure something out?”

“Yeah, I guess. I was just kinda tired of staring at you and not doing anything.”

“Oh, jeez.” Michael pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you remember anything from Jake’s party?”

“I remember kissing a guy that looked vaguely like you, but that’s really it.”

“ _ That was me _ , Jeremy. You kissed  _ me _ . You made out with  _ me  _ in a closet.”   


Jeremy covered his mouth. “ _ Oh. _ ”   


“Did you seriously not realize that? Dude, you have the worst memory in the world.”

“I know, don’t worry. Also, I was really drunk.” He paused. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Cause you probably would have thought I was lying.”

“I - well, yeah, I might have.”

“Let’s go outside so we don’t get sent to detention for some reason.”   


“Why would we get sent to -”   


“Don’t question it, Jeremy, I’ve been sent to detention for every reason you’ve ever heard, most of which I wasn’t even actively doing.”

“What a bad boy. I’m swooning.”   


“Can it, Jeremy, we have fifteen minutes to talk about this before I had to head home.”   


“What exactly are we talking about?”

Michael gave him a blank look. “Jeremy, you literally ran up to me and kissed me two minutes ago. I know your memory sucks, but come on - “   


“No, I mean, I like you and I’m like, ninety percent sure that you like me, so what is there to talk about?”

“You’re insane.”

“You love it.”   


Michael smiled. “I might. I just might.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAA AT THE TIME OF THIS CHAPTER THE WRITERS FOR THE BMC FANZINE ARE RELEASED IN 24 MINUTES WISH ME LUCK Y'ALL


	5. rich fucks several people over part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY GUYS I LOVE THEM I SWEAR BUT I ALSO LOVE DRAMA

Jeremy took a deep breath. “So, Michael - “ He was cut off by someone else’s voice.

“Jeremy! Michael! What are you two doing out here?” Christine ran up to the two boys, her backpack hanging off one shoulder and her script clutched tightly in her hand.  


“Just talking,” Michael said. He glanced at her script book. “Oh, jeez, is that the script?”

“Yeah. You and Jake’ll get one too as soon as Reyes prints the new ones out.” She smiled. 

“Did you two sort everything out?”   


Jeremy nodded. “Yeah, we’re all good.”

“No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” Michael confirmed. 

“We’ve got everything sorted out.”

“Which means…” Christine said, grinning.

“Well, you kind of interrupted us, but I was going to ask Michael something… ” 

Christine thought for a minute. “Oh. OH. Okay, I’ll see you later, Jer!” She waved and walked off.

Jeremy laughed a little. “See ya, Chris.” He turned back to Michael. “So.”

“So what?”

“So, Michael, would you do me the honor of going out on a date with me?”   


Michael smiled. “I would love to.”   


“Okay, so, I didn’t think I’d ever make it this far, so I didn’t put any thought into a plan, so can I have your number and then we can figure something out?”

“Why, I'd love to give a cute guy my number.” 

Jeremy turned red. “Stop that.” 

“What? Calling you cute? Flirting with you?” 

“Yes. Those things. You're making me flustered.” 

“You're cute when you're flustered.”

“Stooooooop.” Jeremy dragged out the “o”, his voice slightly high and whiny. “Keep going and I'll start to regret working up the nerve to ask you out.” 

Michael put his hand over his heart in mock offense. “You wound me.” 

“Oh, ha, ha. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I gotta head out.”

Michael smiled. “Yeah, see ya tomorrow.”

“Bye!” Jeremy called as he walked to where he figured Christine had been hiding to listen in on their conversation. Michael waved and walked in the opposite direction, nearly running into one of the school walls. Jeremy stifled a laugh as he rounded the corner nearest to where he and Michael had been talking. He caught a glimpse of a red skirt going around the corner and laughed a little. 

“Chris! I can see you!”

She poked her head around the corner. “Hello! Great day to walk home, isn’t it? Nice weather.”

He laughed. “Chris, I don’t care if you listen in on Michael and I’s conversations to make sure they go well, but don’t lie about it. God knows how long you’ve been doing that for, I’m totally aware that you do it.”

“Okay, well, you can tell me all the backstory at my house.” She thought for a moment. ”Are you gonna tell the rest of our friends about it?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Possibly. I mean, Michael will probably tell Jake in English tomorrow.”  


Christine nodded. “Most likely. Hey, don’t they have that class together before lunch?”

“Yeah, I think so. Why?”

“Well, I know it’s like, social taboo for the rest of the group to interact with Michael for some reason, but I was just wondering why he wouldn’t at least tell us that he was joining drama.”

“Who knows. Probably Chloe, honestly. Chloe and Rich.”   


“It’s just a club!”

“A club that anyone who puts their name down on that sign-up sheet gets called gay. _By_ _Chloe and Rich_. And Jake likes being popular too much for that. His name’s not on the sign-up sheet.”

“You’re right, I did notice that. Well, we really need to get going if we want to beat my sisters to the media room. I found a Ham Chicago boot the other day, and - “   


Jeremy grinned. “Say no more, Chris. Lezzgo.”

The next day, the Chem teacher instructed they get with their partners (the word choice made Jeremy snicker and Rich stare at him weirdly) and talk some more about the project. Jeremy moved his stuff over to where Michael sat. 

Michael glanced up at him and smiled. “Hey, Jeremy.”

“Hey! I missed you!”

“Sweet, but it’s been less than a day.”

“Am I not allowed to miss you?” Jeremy gave him a quick hug and sat down. “Alright, what do you want to talk about?”

“Well, I was hoping that you’d help plan our date.”

“Of course I will, but keep your voice down, Rich is staring.”   


Michael sighed. “Figures. Okay, so, I was thinking - “   


“Hey, Antisocial Headphones Kid! And Jeremy, the theater boy.” 

“Back off, Rich.” Michael muttered. 

“You got something to say to me, stoner?” 

“Rich, come on, we're trying to work on our project,” Jeremy said, “besides, don't you have your own partner?” 

He shrugged. “She'll do it for me. Scared of me, most likely.” 

“That's…” Michael trailed off. “You're friends with him why, exactly?” he asked. 

“He's better than that, usually.” 

“Usually?” 

“Like half the time.”

“I'm still here, you know.” Rich crossed his arms. 

“We know.” 

He rolled his eyes. “So, Jeremy, is this loser here your boyfriend or something?” 

Jeremy’s pretty sure his life just flashed before his eyes. 

He's also pretty sure he's screwed. Sure, Jake probably knew they were dating but Jeremy has much more trust in Jake currently then he had ever had for Rich, though maybe not before his… whatever happened to him freshman year. Therefore, if Rich can guess correctly that they are, in fact, boyfriends, then any social standing that being friends with Chloe and the rest of the group is right down the drain. 

So he's got a decision to make. Michael will understand if he chooses to deny it, Jeremy’s sure of that, but he'll definitely be hurt ‘cause Jeremy can tell that's how he feels whenever Jake has to ignore him. 

Jeremy isn't controlled by whatever social rules keep the top four away from Michael. He is still, obviously, influenced by the whole “theater is gay” thing, and he loves his friends so much and if he does admit that he's going to take Michael out on a date, Chloe will kick him out of the group to preserve her spot at the top. She's not homophobic, neither is Rich, but they're both popular and kind of have to be assholes to the gay kids or they would lose that precious popularity. 

Rich is staring at him expectantly now and Michael looks scared. 

“Well, I mean - “ 

“It's a yes or no question.” Jeremy can tell by the look on Rich’s face that he's already guessed the answer, and he wasn't super excited for lunch anymore. 

“.... maaaaaybe?” 

Rich looked at him, eyebrows raised. “Well, invite him to lunch today, then. I'm sure everyone would love to meet him. Though, I'd think that Chloe might not like it very much.” He walked away, and Jeremy let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in.

“Why do you let those two have so much power over you? You and Jake, both of you.” Michael looked genuinely concerned for Jeremy.

“Because they're my friends, even if they're total a-holes sometimes.” 

“Alright. Come on, let's get some stuff done. Do you want me to join you for lunch?” 

Jeremy laughed softly. “I have a feeling we'll end up eating somewhere else, but sure.” 

Lunch came all too quickly for Jeremy. He and Michael had spent most of the period laughing and planning their date, getting 0.1% of their work done. Christine joined the two of them as they walked out of Chrm, still smiling. 

“Jer! Michael! How's it going? Oh, and Michael, are you gonna sit with us today?” 

“It's going okay. I have a quick explanation for you, so….” Jeremy whispered the events of class to her, and Christine grimaced. 

“Just for the record, I'm going with you two if Jer gets kicked out.”

Michael smiled. “Thanks, Christine.” 

“No problem. Let's get going, shall we?”

“Let's.”

\-----

It wasn't normal for Michael to be scared of going to lunch. Even sitting alone every day didn't scare him as much as facing the popular kids did.

Then again, sitting alone was probably preferable to sitting with the school's biggest gossip, the two top bitches of the school, and the kid who bullied him. 

_ No. You're not gonna let them scare you. They don't control you. _

As Jeremy dragged him along to the table, he observed the kids at the table. The sad fact of the matter is that most of the kids at school would kill to be in the exact position that Michael was dreading at the moment.

Jake and Rich were chatting about something, Brooke was holding a mirror for Chloe as she redid her makeup, and Jenna was texting on her phone. Christine slid into her seat and started making conversation as Jeremy and Michael awkwardly sat down.

Chloe glanced up and set down her lipstick. “Who do we have here? The gay stoner-loner?” 

“Extended Jeremy’s normal invite.” Rich grinned. “Got something you'd like to say to the rest of us?”

Jeremy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. “Guys, this is my boyfriend, Michael.”

Chloe looked taken aback for a bit, then her face regained its normal look. “Well, you know what I have to do, don't you?”

“Do you really, though? Couldn't you just let me stay here?”

“Why would I do that? We make fun of kids like you, Jeremy, the theater  _ gays _ . So do us a favor and leave.”

Michael saw red. His brain stop thinking clearly, only told him that he had to do something.

“Well, if you don't want a gay kid in your precious group, then why's Jake still here?” 

His friend's eyes widened. “Michael, please don't - “ 

Chloe blinked a couple times. Rich’s face fell, his composure gone. 

Chloe scoffed. “Kept him around because he begged me to, Mell, begged me to keep him in the group in exchange for… oh, I don't remember, wasn't it not talking to you? And here I was thinking that he was keeping good on his end, but since you know that… well, Jake, it's time I kept my end of the deal. Get out.” 

“Chlo, come on, you can't - “ Jake seemed desperate. 

“Out. You and Jeremy. And Christine too, while we're at it. Congrats.” 

Michael jumped up as the other three got up slowly. Jake gave Rich a pleading look, but Rich kept eye contact with the floor. 

“He didn't even try to defend me,” Jake said miserably. 

Michael sighed. “Well, that went about as well as expected.” 

“Best friends for five years, and he doesn't say a word. And Michael, what the hell?” 

“I panicked! I'm so sorry, Jake.” 

“It's … fine. I just - Rich said  _ nothing _ .” 

“You care about him a lot, don't you?” Christine interjected.

“Well, duh, of course. I just thought he'd maybe try and help me. That maybe I was just a little bit more important to him than his reputation.” 

Jeremy shrugged. “You've got us. And we'll get you Rich back someday.” 

Jake laughed without humor. “Never thought I'd see myself here.” 

“Well, get used to it.” Michael thought for a minute, then smiled. “What do you guys say we skip a couple periods?” 

“Works for me,” Jake said.

“But what about rehearsal?” Christine protested. 

“We can come back for it. I'm just not really up for school right now.” 

Jeremy and Christine shared a look. Jeremy nodded and said “Sure.” 

Christine crossed her arms. “Fine. But I've never skipped before, so I blame you three if we get in trouble.” 

Michael grinned. “Deal. Let's get out of here.”   
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE JAKEY I PROMISE


	6. why u do dis @ rich

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> god my chapter titles are so stupid 
> 
> about this chapter, next one is play rehearsal and jer + michaels date, cause this one is pretty self indulgent and filler-esque
> 
> edit: fuckity fuck i forgot to mention that this is rich pov to begin and then jake pov

Rich stared at his shoes, numb to the chatter of the three around him. Chloe nudged his shoulder. 

“What’s your deal? You can’t possibly be like, missing them or something.”

“He’s my best fucking friend, Chlo. Was that really necessary?”

She scoffed. “Do you want to be popular or do you want your gay best friend back?”

“You  _ knew _ , Chloe! You told us that you knew!”   


_ Stop pushing the issue. You’re better off without him. _

“It’s - it’s fine, I guess,” Rich said, his voice shaky. “I just - “   


_ No buts. No just, no ending. You like being popular, don’t you? _

“I like being popular with Jake!” Rich argued, getting annoyed with his SQUIP.

_ We went over this, Rich. You are  _ straight.  _ Your crush on Jake was no more than a fleeting thing in middle school. _

“Just shut up, won't you? I decide whether I had a crush on Jake - “

_ I'm in your brain, Rich. You had what we consider to be a crush on Jake until you got me. And you still would if you didn't choose to block that out.  _

“I didn't. I know that I feel something more than friendly to Jake, but like you said, I'm straight. And he's my best friend.” 

_ Was your best friend.  _

“What?” 

_ Chloe and Jake were the most popular kids at school. With Jake no longer in that position, I believe it's time for an upgrade.  _

“An upgrade?” 

_ You ought to take Jake’s place. Most popular guy at school. It's what you wanted, isn't it? _

“Rich? You've been awfully quiet so far this lunch.” Brooke sounded genuinely concerned. 

“I'm all good. Chlo, do you mind if I switch to where Jake usually sits?” 

“It's no problem to me.” She smirked. “Finally accepting that he's not your friend?” 

“Well, if he's gonna act like a loser, I'm just gonna have to take his place,” Rich said, prompted by his SQUIP.

_ Nice work. Now, I have a couple options for you…  _

“What?” Rich snapped at it. “This hurts, you know.”

_ I am aware. One thing to make it slightly less painful is something new called “optic nerve blocking”... you would no longer be able to see Jake and therefore would no longer be able to interact with him.  _

“I can do that?” 

_ Of course. Just give me the command.  _

“Optic nerve blocking…” Rich bit his lip. “On.”

_ Very good. You should not be able to see him at all anymore.  _

“Well…”

_ Rich. You are popular. He is no longer popular. You’ve made your decision. _

“And what’ll happen to him?”

_ The current outcome shows him becoming better friends with the other three. If this continues, then it’s entirely possible you two could forget about each other eventually. _

“Don’t let that happen.” Rich said coldly. 

_ Excuse me? _

“Don’t let us forget about each other. Don’t erase my memories or something so that when he gets popular again we’re not friends anymore.”

_ You’re in denial. _

“Am not.”

_ Rich. Jake forfeited his popularity when Michael outed him.  _

“Well - “

_ Could you just  _ stop _?! Rich, you need to give up on whatever connection you still have with that boy. You will no longer be able to see him. And whatever romantic feelings you may have had -  _

“I never felt anything romantically for him - “

_ That’s a lie. We’ve been over this. You no longer feel anything romantically for him,  _ the SQUIP corrected.  _ Because you are straight.  _

“Is that like, your mantra or something? I feel like that's all I hear from you.” 

_ Stop thinking gay thoughts and you'll stop hearing it. _

“I am not thinking gay thoughts!” 

_ I'm about to turn myself off. Look, just stop thinking about Jake and you'll be all good. Make conversation with Jenna. She's been looking a little lonely today. _

\-----

Jake laughed as Christine laid herself down across the three boys’ laps, nearly spilling her slushie on Jeremy. The four of them had successfully ditched school, stopping at the nearby Seven-Eleven before heading to Jake’s.  (As depressing as the reason why his parents weren't home, he hadn't given the whole truth to his friends and instead just said that they were off on a business trip.)

Michael raised his slushie. “A toast to gas station slushies, new friends, and a great-ass boyfriend.” He kissed Jeremy on the cheek, and the shorter boy blushed as Jake and Christine cheered.

“Ooh, I've got one!” Christine said, accidentally elbowing Michael (who was sitting in the middle) in the knee as she propped herself up. “A toast to our new Crutchie, parents who are never home, and more people who are willing to sit through the Dear Evan Hansen bootleg five times over with me!” 

Jeremy grinned. “My turn! Alright, a toast to new friends, and a best friend who won't care if I start making out with my boyfriend during bootlegs.” 

“When did I say I wouldn't care - “ Christine started.

“Jake, your turn!” Jeremy interrupted.

Jake laughed. “Okay, okay. A toast to friends who accept me and pay for my slushie and - “ He paused, feeling a sensation like a tie being cut. 

“You good, Jake?” Jeremy asked, concerned. 

“Yeah, just - thinking of something. A toast to drama club and Newsies!” Christine and Jeremy cheered and Michael rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Christine checked her phone. “T-minus two-ish hours to rehearsal. We’re still going, right?”   


“Yes, Christine, we’re still going. Don’t you worry.” Jeremy laughed.

“Are you sure they won’t care? Cause I don’t wanna get in trouble.”

“ _ Christine. _ ”   


“Sorry, sorry.”

The four of them hung out for the last two hours, Christine nearly spilling her slushie all over the three boys at least seven times, it was fun, though Jake couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Eventually, Jeremy got up to throw away his slushie cup, and their time was officially up.

“Wait, so, are your parents just on like, some perpetual business trip? Cause there's no way they just happen to be gone all the time. You threw parties, like, every other weekend.” Jeremy asked, shoving his backpack into the backseat of Michael’s car.

Jake shrugged. “You could say that, yeah.” 

Michael glanced at him. “I want the story behind this, dude. No dodging the question.” 

“It's nothing worth telling you guys, really.”

“Spill, Jakey.” Jeremy crossed his arms. 

“I don’t want to tell you. They’re just gone a lot.”   


Christine made a motion for Michael and Jeremy to be quiet. “Are they ever home?”

“Yeeeeeees?”   


Christine put her hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Jake, come on. I know that sounded like a lie to you too.”

“Let’s just go to rehearsal. I don’t want to talk about it. Ever.”

“I - Okay. But you're coming over tonight, got it?” 

“Wait, really? It's Friday. You must have something better to do.”

“Not necessarily. Unless you really, really, hate younger kids, then you’re coming over tonight. We’ll find something to do.”   


After play rehearsal, Jake and Christine waved goodbye to Jeremy and Michael and headed over to Christine’s house. 

“Are you sure you want me over?”   


“Yes, of course I’m sure. What kind of movies do you like?”

“Um… 80’s movies? Like, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, Heathers, etcetera.”

“Me. Too. Okay, so, you might get interrogated by my mom, and I will bet you money the conversation starts like “Hey, Chris, hey, Jeremy - that’s not Jeremy,” but just roll with it.”

“Okay?” 

“Let's hurry. We have around… seven minutes until my younger sisters claim the media room, so we better get going.” Christine sped up, still chattering happily about how much fun the two of them were going to have tonight. Jake just smiled and nodded, glad that he had something to do. 

Once they reached Christine’s house, she quickly punched in her garage code and opened the door. “Mom, I'm home and I have a friend over!” 

“Christine, we've been over this, you can't just bring Jeremy over whenever you feel like it - “ Her mom paused and looked the boy up and down. “That's not Jeremy.” 

“Yes, and if you'd given me five more seconds, I would have told you that this is Jake, he's another one of my good friends.”

“Isn't he the one I caught you and Jeremy complaining about ‘cause he was an annoyingly good at everything kind of person?” 

“MOM.” 

Jake laughed. “I'm going to take that as a compliment.” 

“He's new to drama, but he's like, besties with Jeremy’s new boyfriend, you know, the one I told you about last night, and - “ 

“I'm going to stop you before you spill today's events.” Jake interrupted, giving Christine’s mom an apologetic smile.

“She tells me everything that her friends tell her unless they tell her to keep it a secret. But if it's important to you, I'll let you two go and have fun. Bailey isn't done with homework yet, so…” 

“Gotcha. Jake, backpack goes there, follow me!” 

Jake glanced at his friend's mom. “Thanks for letting me hang here. My parents aren't home this weekend, and it's a long story, but Christine and Jeremy have kind of adopted me? My old friends weren't very nice to me when I came out, and… yeah.” 

She smiled. “It's no problem. Don't tell them, but I'm kind of glad to see someone other than Jeremy with Christine.”

Jake laughed. “Alright. Thank you again.” 

“Again, no problem. Media room is down the hall on your right. If Chris and Bailey are fighting, tell them Mom says Christine gets it tonight.”

“Of course.” He followed her instructions, which didn’t seem as necessary the closer he got to the room, considering there was yelling coming from the room with the giant TV in it, and his deduction skills worked well enough that he could figure out that that was the media room.

“You always get the TV to watch your stupid musicals with your stupid friends!” A girl who looked about nine or ten yelled, while another girl who looked about fourteen typed something out on her cellphone.   


“Bailey, shut up! Just go do whatever you were doing before!” 

The little girl stuck her tongue out at Christine. “Fine. Have fun with your stupid boyfriend.”

“I’m a  _ lesbian _ \- “

Jake spoke up. “Hi, girls.”   


Christine’s littlest sister stared at him, and the older one looked him up and down and said, “Are you sure you like girls? This one’s nice.”

“Do  _ not _ hit on Jake. Now both of you, clear out.”

“Your mom did say what it was your sister’s turn to use the TV…”   


“Thank you, Jake. Bailey, Alyssa, get out of this room.”   


The two girls headed out, and the older one winked at him as she left. Jake laughed, and moved to sit next to Christine on the couch. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m so sorry about those two. Especially Alyssa, I know you’re more interested in guys, and she’s fourteen - “

“Chris, calm down, it’s fine. Siblings aren’t something I ever had to deal with, so five minutes of having to deal with yours won’t ruin my day.”

“Lucky only child. Okay, so, you have two options here: Put off the inevitable conversation we’re going to have about how your parents aren’t home ever, or talk about it now and then watch Newsies before my sisters kick us out.”

Jake took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s depressing.”

“Tell meeeeeee.” Christine took his hands in hers. “Please, I won’t be mad or anything.”   


“I don’t doubt that, you’ve been nothing but nice to me, but I just - I really, really - everything’s fine. I’m fine, and it’s all fine.”

“You said fine way too many times in that sentence for it to be just fine.”   


“I - they’re not home. Ever. Like you said. When I was fourteen, they just packed up and - poof. Gone. Laundered money, and they’re on the run. I know - I know it’s bad but I’m all good. Really, it’s been two years and I haven’t burnt the house down, so…” He smiled sadly.

“Jake, that’s… awful.”

“I. Am. Fine. Please, just drop the subject.”

“There is no way you’re  _ fine _ ! Does anyone else know?”

“No? Nobody ever thought to ask.”

“Jesus - okay. We’re going to watch Newsies now, and you’re going to learn your songs. Saturday, you, me, Jeremy, and Michael, are all going to go do something, and then we can talk about what is going to happen to you because I can’t let you just keep living alone like that - “   


“Christine. Please. I’ve survived it for two years. It’s normal.”

“You’re in denial. Jake, this is not okay, you could have something happen to you - “   


“ _ Christine. _ ”   


“Sorry, sorry.”

“It’s not like I’m going to need my parents anymore, right?”   


She stared at him. “Yeah, okay, I’m going to ask my mom to set up the guest room. Whatever- however - you’ve been living isn’t just  _ fine _ , Jake, it’s - “   


“Wait, hold on, I’m not staying here, that’s rude and I’m not just going to crash out your house - “   


Christine smirked. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled “Hey, mom? Can Jake stay over tonight?”, and her mom yelled back a positive response. She turned back to Jake and smiled at him. “Yes, you are.”

“What the  _ hell _ \- “   


“Now, I know I said Newsies earlier, but I want to make the most out of this HamChi bootleg before it gets taken down, so I’ll give you the choice.”

Jake thought for a minute. “How late can we stay up?”

Christine clapped her hands. “That’s the spirit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lov my boys i swear


	7. but i'm your dork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is hella sweet and fluffy and then... insanely sad.   
> I told myself i was gonna save the angst for the next chapter but noPE

Jeremy fidgeted nervously with the edge of his jacket. It had been a while (four years, to be exact) since he’d been nervous for play rehearsal, but his streak was broken by the sheer fact that Christine had talked him into singing for Michael at rehearsal.

Yes, he’s aware it’s a terrible idea, you can go tell Christine that ‘cause she was unrelenting and  _ she wouldn’t listen to Jeremy -  _

But he’s fine. It’s fine. He can do this.

Fuck, he doesn’t think he can do this.

Why did he agree to this? There was little reason for it, and they hadn’t even been on one date yet! It was completely and totally - 

He was just psyching himself out now. It was just I Never Planned On You. He’d sang it a million times (and Jeremy wasn’t afraid to admit that he’d pretending like he was singing most of those to someone he was dating or married to) but oh  _ god _ , he was going to have to sing it to someone who actually existed and was not a poster of a celebrity. 

It wasn’t that big of a deal, anyways. Michael liked him. Michael liked his voice. 

Christine nudged his shoulder. “You okay, Jer?”

He blinked a couple times as he was brought back to reality. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m all good.”

Jake smiled at him. “It’s just rehearsal. Nothing special.”

“Yeah. Right.”

Christine sighed. “You don’t have to do this.”   


Michael glanced up at the three of them. “Do what?”

“Nothing,” Jeremy said quickly. Michael shrugged and Christine rolled her eyes.

“What are we doing today, anyway?” Jake asked.

“Carrying the Banner choreography.” Jeremy did mock jazz hands. “Unless….”   


Jake took a deep breath. “I’m considering it. If you guys are going to try and make me do whatever the hell Jeremy did yesterday then I’m leaning more towards “fine I’ll do it”.”

Christine squealed. “Yes! We did the easy stuff yesterday!”

“ _ Are you effing kidding me -  _ “   


“Everyone! Listen up!” Mr. Reyes called. “Before we get started - “   


“No, Mr. Reyes, I said at the end of rehearsal for drama!” Christine yelled. Jeremy patted her on the shoulder to get her to calm down. 

“Miss Canigula! I know that you have a plan for the end of the day today, and while that is  _ fine _ , you can’t just interrupt me! I was going to say that before we get started, we have a new member today!”

“Wait, what?!”   


“Mister Heere!” Mr. Reyes snapped. “Everyone, welcome Miss Lohst!”

“Are you freaking kidding me?”

“Mister Dillinger!”   


“She hates us! She hates theater!”

“ _ Mister Mell! _ If someone wants to join, we can’t turn them away because some of the students do not get along with them! Michael, Jeremy, Jake, Christine, I expect you, as some of the most influential and well-liked members of our club, to welcome Brooke here with open arms.”

“She aided in kicking us out of the group!” Jake muttered, fuming. 

“Guys, she’s not here with Jenna or Rich or Chloe, god forbid. We have to give her a shot!” Christine whispered.

“No, no, we do not. She can do the jumps like everyone else while Jer-Bear and Chris take center stage.” Michael crossed his arms and pouted.

Jeremy flushed. “Did you just call me Jer-Bear?” 

“Yes, I did. Did you like that?” Michael teased.

“Stopppppp. I’m gonna throw up.” Christine groaned.

“Alright! Everyone down on stage! Jeremy, you can kick us off. And Michael, I want you to watch carefully. Miss Lohst, watch with Michael and observe especially the way he does the spins. I know you were having trouble with those yesterday.” Mr. Reyes gave Michael a pointed glare, and he rolled his eyes as the four walked down to the stage.

Brooke moved next to Michael, both standing rigid and not looking at each other. Jeremy laughed a little at the expression on Michael’s face, and went into his routines. He caught glimpses of Brooke muttering something to Michael, and Michael nodding and pretty much ignoring her. As Jeremy finished, Mr. Reyes nodded approvingly. Jeremy motioned for Michael to come join him out in the center of the stage. His boyfriend rolled his eyes and made his way over to Jeremy. 

“Okay, I’m proud of you for not wearing skinny jeans today, but you do still need to get the hang of these spins if you want to stay in the cast.” Jeremy took Michael’s hands and guided them to where he needed to have them for starting position. 

“You ought to hold my hands more often,” Michael murmured and Jeremy blushed slightly. 

“You need to stop doing that.”

“Stop being so adorable first and then we’ll see.” Michael grinned. 

“You’re a dork. Remember what I told you yesterday. Leg in, leg out. Works every time.”

Michael spun around a couple times before tripping. “I did it, Jer-Bear!”

“God, you’re so cute,” Jeremy muttered. “You need to know how to do it without tripping,” he said, chuckling.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re blushing.” Michael observed.   


Mr. Reyes cleared his throat. “Michael, go practice lines with Jake! He’s agreed to be our Crutchie for the play, so Christine can’t help him alone. Miss Lohst, Jeremy can help you with your choreography, since you’re new here.”

Brooke joined Jeremy at center front, fingers twisted nervously. “Hi.”

“Brooke.”

“I - don’t get me kicked out. I need some way to escape whatever the hell is going on with our - my - group.”

“I’m not going to kick you out. Am I going to silently think you’re spying on us for Chloe? Probably.”

(In hindsight, probably should not have said that to her.)

“I deserved that. Just - teach me how to do the stupid dance and I’ll leave you and your boyfriend alone.”   


“Why are you here?”

“Because I love Chloe, but she’s a bitch. And Rich is acting super strange. Jenna’s just being Jenna as normal, but I can’t - I liked you guys. I really did. Christine was fun to talk to, and you two fit as part of the group really well. Jake was the head of the effing group. I just needed a break and an excuse.”   


“Alright. Did you see what I had Michael do? Leg in, leg out.”

After the choreography session was over, Christine motioned for Jeremy to get ready for the song. He nodded and headed offstage to clear his head. Jeremy heard Christine yell for the stage to be cleared and the thumping of footsteps as people jumped off the stage. Jeremy made his way back out to center stage and smiled at the rest of the students, who clapped and whistled appreciatively.

“Hello, drama club! I - well, Christine has convinced Mr. Reyes to let me showcase one of the songs from Newsies really quickly - and, I’d lie and say that I’m doing this for the club to give a valuable lesson in singing, actor’s voice, blah, blah, blah,  but in reality we all know I‘m doing this for one person and one person only. Michael, I’d like you to join me up on stage because - ‘cause this is for you.”

The crowd cheered as Michael walked up the stairs onto the stage. “Jeremy, this is very over the top - “ Michael laughed as he joined Jeremy and faced him.   


“I’ve got no use for moonlight…”

Michael blushed and giggled. “You are not doing this - “   


“Or sappy poetry,” Jeremy sang, interrupting Michael. “Love at first sight’s for suckers…”   


At least it used to be.”   


_ Girls are nice, once or twice,  _

_ ‘Till I find someone new _

_ But I never planned on someone like you _

“Jer, this is a very high bar you’ve set for our date tonight,” Michael whispered to him.

“Shhh, just enjoy it,” Jeremy murmured.

_ Oh, I’ve got no use for moonlight,  _

_ Or sappy poetry _

“Love at first sight’s for suckers…” Michael sang along softly.

_ At least it used to be…  _

“No, I never planned on someone… like you!” Jeremy sang, and the audience clapped and cheered as Michael pulled him in for a hug.

“That was really sweet. Why…?”   


“Well, Christine convinced me to do it, but I kind of wanted to? I was scared you wouldn’t like the attention.”

“Hey, I normally wouldn’t, but that was the cutest thing I’ve ever been a part of. And I’m grateful you worked up the courage to do that.”

Jeremy blushed. “Thank you. Now, we should probably get off the stage before everyone starts yelling at us.”

“Good idea.”

Jeremy and Michael sat back down next to Jake and Christine as the other two packed up their stuff. Jake glanced at them and laughed. “That was inherently the gayest thing I have ever seen.”

Christine smacked him on the shoulder. “It was cute. Well, we ought to head out. Jake, you’re still coming over, right?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Okay, let’s walk out together and then we’ll send you two on your way.” Christine winked. “Have fun tonight.”   


The four kids walked out together, chatting. Jake and Christine waved goodbye to the two boys and headed in the opposite direction. Michael took Jeremy’s hand and smiled at him. “Okay, I know I was in mostly in charge of planning the date, so I want it to be some sort of a surprise, but I can’t really cover your eyes ‘till we get there so…”

“You should just tell me.”

“No, no, the surprise is part of the aesthetic.”

“The aesthetic.”

“Shush, Jeremy. Anyways, if you could just, like, not look around at where we’re going I’d appreciate it.”

“You are a  _ dork _ .”

“I’m your dork.”

“I’m just going to have to spend the whole ride staring at you then.”   


Michael fake-gasped. “Is this the same Jer-Bear that got flustered when I flirted with him the other day?”

“This one just ditched some friends and school and sang a love song to his boyfriend in front of about twenty people. No, it is not.”   


“I like this one a bit better. Though, I’m pretty sure I like every version of you.”   


“You’re such a sweetheart.”   


“Yeah, I know.”   


Jeremy giggled. “You’re not supposed to say that.”

“I’m not? But it’s true.” Michael winked. “We’re here, Heere.”

“I regret telling you my last name.” 

_ Our last name.  _

_ What the hell, brain. First date. Please chill. _

“Aw, Michael, I love this place! How’d you know?”

“Hardcore Instagram stalking, Jer. Though, if anyone asks, I guessed and got lucky.”   


Jeremy laughed. “Okay, okay. First official date is a go.” 

“I - you’re the best.”

Jeremy smiled, and he was sure that his expression exactly matched the lovestruck one on Michael’s.

\-----

Jake laughed as Michael and Jeremy held hands as they walked over to Christine and Jake. “You two are couple goals, honestly.” 

Christine rolled her eyes. “Please never say that again. Okay, Saturday is boardwalk day!”

“A new tradition for us. Whenever we have a Saturday free, we’re going here,” Jake said.

“Weather permitting,” Christine added.   


“Yeah….” Jake trailed off, catching a glimpse of Rich in the distance, laughing with Chloe and Jenna.

“You okay?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I’m all good. It’s just…”

“Rich?” Jake nodded. “Okay, well, Michael and Chris and I will make sure we try and stay away from them.”

That plan worked terribly. As soon as Rich noticed Jake and his friends, he said something to Chloe and she nodded. He walked over, Jeremy and Michael dropping each other’s hands and Christine shuffling in front of Jake.

“Jake, I was gonna talk to you at school on Monday, but better now than never - “

“What? What do you want with me, Rich?” Jake snapped. Christine, Jeremy, and Michael hung back, trying to blend into the background. “Why did you ignore me?”   


“This is insane. I didn’t  _ ignore _ you, Jakey - “   


“Don’t call me Jakey,” Jake said coldly. “You lost any and all right to call me that.”

“Calm down. And keep your voice down, too, I don’t want anyone to see me talking to you.”

“Oh, ‘cause god  _ fucking _ forbid you talk to me because Chloe’s deemed it taboo and your popularity is worth more than someone who cares about you.”

“I - “

“Don’t say anything. Don’t you dare say anything. Rich, Richie, whatever the hell you are to me now, it’s not my best friend that I wanted to spend every day with.”

“Jake, I’m still the person that you met in seventh grade, but I like being popular - “

“You are not the person I met in seventh grade.”

“I’m still Richie! I just changed!”   


“Yeah, well, people say that change is for the better but I can’t see anything better about the way you act now. It was a matter of time before it all fell apart.”

“C’mon, Jake - “

“What happened to everything? Every single memory we’ve ever had? I called your name in the hallway and you walked right past me. I sat down next you in History and you didn’t even acknowledge me. It’s - it’s like you couldn’t even see me!”

“Well maybe I couldn’t!” Rich yelled, and then covered his mouth. “I couldn’t! It’s this dumb thing - this dumb SQUIP that - it’s what’s been making me do all these things, and like, follow all of Chloe’s instructions, and there was a thing called optic  nerve blocking, so I literally couldn’t thee - see you!” The longer the SQUIP was off for him, the more his lisp started to come back.

Jake rolled his eyes. “Cut the bullshit, Rich. That’s not even a good excuse.”   


“It’s the truth! Jake, I thwear - I mean, swear, I swear that’s the truth!”

“I’m done.”

“What?” Rich looked taken aback.

“Jer, Michael, Chris, let’s go. If all Rich wants to do is lie to me, then I’m done.”

“Jakey - “

“Don’t call me Jakey.” Jake’s voice was laced with steel. “And I know Chloe’s already required this of you, but don’t talk to me. Don’t interact with me. Turn that “optic nerve whatever” back on because I don’t want you near me. You know, I loved you, Rich. You were my best friend. And you gave that up for popularity.”

“Wait - “

“Good _ bye. _ ” Rich turned around and ran off, and Jake could tell he was crying.

Christine tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you want to go do something now?”   


“Might as well. I’m not going to let him ruin our day.”

Everyone smiled, and Michael, having taken back Jeremy’s hand, spoke up. “Then let’s go! We’ve gotta find something fun to do  _ immediately. _ ”

Jake woke up the next morning to his phone ringing incessantly. He rolled over and saw Christine’s name, so he picked up. “Hello? It’s like, six in the morning.”

“Oh my god, Jake, did you hear the news?”

“What news? I just woke up, Chrissy.”

“It’s Rich.”   


“I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“No, Jake, he’s in the  _ hospital. _ For third degree burns.” 

“How the hell…”   


“They’re saying he burnt down his house. I even heard from Brooke that he did it to commit suicide.”

“What? No, that can’t be…”

“Swallow your pride, Dillinger. Your best friend  - “

“Ex-best friend.”

“Whatever. He tried to kill himself, and he’s in the hospital. Jeremy and Michael are fighting over whether they should go visit him, but I’m gonna go and I think you should too.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Jake…”   


“I’ll think about it. I’m going back to sleep now.”

“Okay. Jake, we all know you still care about him - “

“More than you know, Christine.”

_ More than anyone knows. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i'm a little bit sad


	8. rich you're in a fucking full body cast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a happy chapter??? whAT???  
> i owed it to yall ig

Michael gripped Jeremy’s hand. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I appreciate the support, but this is your high school bully, and you were the one who was strongly advocating against going.”

It was Monday after school, and Michael and Jeremy were waiting to see Rich. The school had been abuzz with the news and there were at least forty different versions of the story. (One of the ways Michael had convinced himself to come down here was that he had to find out which was the true story.) Jenna Rolan and Chloe, despite being, you know,  _ friends with Rich _ , were the most ruthless when it came to rumors. Brooke was staying out of it, though she’d admitted to Michael at rehearsal that she’d spread a couple of the suicide rumors (she’d also said that she’d felt very bad about it, though). 

There was a loud noise from the hallway, and both Michael and Jeremy’s heads turned towards it. 

“Jake, you said you’d come! You can’t back out now!”   


“Christine, he ditched me and then lied to me about it. I can back out.”   


“Please, Jake, you’ll feel better if you go talk to him.”

“Fine, but if he tries to call me Jakey we’re getting out of here.”   


“Deal.”

Christine sat down next to Michael as Jake paced the room. “Sorry about the yelling.  _ Someone _ doesn’t want to talk to Rich and yet looks as nervous as if it's his best friend in that hospital bed.” 

“Would you shut up?” Jake snapped. “I'm just concerned for him.” 

A nurse poked her head around the doorway. “Rich is awake if you would like to see him now.”

“Jake, you go in first,” Christine said, nodding towards the door.

“Actually, Mister Goranski has requested that Jake go in last. He wanted to see Jeremy and Christine first, I believe.”

“What about me?” Michael asked. 

“He only specified three names. You can come in after these two, I suppose.”

When he thought about it, it wasn't all that surprising that Rich hadn't thought of Michael coming to see him. 

They weren’t formerly friends. He’d had maybe two civil conversations with Rich back in eighth grade, and both of those were solely because he had to for class. 

What was that bullshit story Rich had said when they were on the boardwalk? Something about a squid?

No, no, SQUIP. He had called it a SQUIP.

Well, a little google search never hurt anyone. Michael typed out “SQUIP” into the search bar and clicked on the first article about it. (Well, not the first. Google seemed to think he meant “squid” as well, so that narrowed down his search a bit.) The article itself talked about a guy who had gone from Harvard to a mental hospital. It read like a Buzzfeed article, but it actually used the word “SQUIP” so Michael persevered through. Occasionally, he glanced up and saw Jake still pacing the room. 

Michael chuckled. “Jake, with the way you’re acting, you’d think it was your fiance in that hospital bed or something.”   


Jake glared at him. “Don’t joke about that. I’m still not over that “I care about him more than you know” is one of the gayest things I’ve ever said.”

“Wow, okay.”

“Am I wrong?”

“No, but I’m assuming you’d like to be.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s - “

He was interrupted by Jeremy and Christine walking back into the waiting room, both looking a little shaken. Christine nodded for Michael to go back, and he made his way to the hospital room. Michael caught sight of Rich laying on the bed in a full cast, and waved slightly.

“Hey.” 

Rich smiled sadly. “They told me that you'd come to see me. Sorry about not including you in the plan, but I didn't think you'd have come.” 

“I didn't want to come. I've been told I was easier to persuade then Jake, though.” 

Rich winced. “I really hurt him, didn't I?” 

“Yeah, you did. Why are you here, though? Here as in the hospital, I mean.” 

“Well, I know you didn't believe what I told you about the SQUIP on Saturday - “ 

“I believe you.” 

Roch looked surprised. “You do?” 

“I did some research while I was waiting in the lobby. What in the  _ world _ would have prompted you to take a drug from Japan?” Michael asked incredulously. 

“You know what, Michael, I'm not even sure anymore. It's been two years. I guess I just assumed I'd asked for popularity and that overgrown Siri’s shock treatments were because I was doing something wrong in reaching that goal.” 

“That's…” 

“Kind of depressing? I realize that now, but it was just a part of life for me.”

“That's not kind of depressing. Me joining theater because I have no friends is kind of depressing. That's downright horrible.”

“I  _ know  _ that, Michael, just…” He sighed. “Jake’s here, right?” 

“Yeah, he is. He’s been waiting to see you since you gratefully told the nurse to make him go last.”   


“I owe him the most apologies. I owe you a couple too, Michael.”   


Michael had to restrain himself from saying “fuck yeah you do”. “Yeah, I guess…”

“I'm sorry for treating you like human garbage all those years. You didn't deserve it. I'm sorry for calling you slurs, for making fun of you… I'm sorry, Michael. That's not really me, but I still did it, and I'm  _ so, so, sorry _ .”

“I - “ 

“Hey, you don't owe me any forgiveness. You make Jeremy happy. I know you do.” 

“I need to see that you really didn't do that on your own. I need you to prove that you've changed. Then I can forgive you a little bit.” 

Rich smiled. “I can do that for you. Before you send Jake in, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, what is it?” 

He grinned. “What would you think if I told you I was gonna ask Jake out when he came in here?”

“I'd wish you good luck and remind you to apologize first. See you later, Rich.” 

Michael turned around at the door. “Rich, you do realize you’re in a full body cast, right?”   


“ _ I’ll figure it out, Michael. _ ”

Michael laughed and put his hands up in mock defense. “You do you, Rich.”

“Now, get out, Mel - Michael. Um, Jeremy told me that you didn’t like to be called by your last name, and I kind of pieced together that that was because that’s what I call - I called you. I’m gonna try and stop that.”

He gave Rich a half smile. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t ruin your last name for you so you have to take Jeremy’s because that would be a  _ disaster -  _ “

“I’m leaving now.”   


“Don’t forget to send in Jake!” Rich called, and Michael laughed quietly to himself.

Once he got back to the waiting room, Jake jumped up and then turned red, looking embarrassed. Jeremy and Christine snickered and Michael just smiled knowingly and gestured down the hallway.   


He sat down next to Jeremy, who immediately took his hand. “Did Rich tell you about the fire?” Christine asked.

“No, we got kind of sidetracked. He apologized to me, and we just got to talking about other things. Why?”

“Well, it's kind of a sad story, but it didn't make any sense to me. He kept saying something about the SQUIP forcing him to do it, and - “ 

Jeremy sighed, exasperated. “Christine, I told you already, the SQUIP is real and that's the one part of the story I'm sure Rich isn't making up.”

“It just seems like a bunch of crap to me! Anyways, he said that it wasn't a suicide attempt because, and I quote, “I have more efficient ways of doing that than burning down my house,” which is really sad when you think about it, but he says that he did it to get rid of the SQUIP thingy and it worked, though you'd think landing yourself in the hospital wouldn't get filed under the category of “successes”...” 

“He said it gave him  _ shock treatments _ . That's inhumane, Christine.” Michael folded his arms across his chest. “While third-degree burns may hurt like a motherfucker, I think getting that thing out of his head makes it somewhat of a success.” 

“I’ll give you that,” Christine relented. “Any comments, Jeremy?”

“He tried to sell it - the SQUIP - to me beginning of this year,” Jeremy said quietly. “I just - I can’t help but think would have happened - the horror stories he told about that thing - what would have happened if - if I didn’t turn him down?”

Christine rubbed his back and Michael gripped his hand tighter. “You didn’t. You didn’t, you turned him down,” Michael said. 

“But what if - “   


“No what ifs. You know how dangerous they are now.” Christine smiled at him. “Just keep looking forward.”

\----- 

Jake pushed open the door to Rich’s hospital room. “Hey, buddy.”   


“We’re back to friends again?” Rich asked, rather hopefully.

“I’ve been told to put our fight on hiatus and let you explain.”   


“I suppose I owe you an explanation, don’t I?” Rich sighed. “Just - don’t interrupt. Don’t tell me how awful it is that I had to go through this, just - don’t. And remember that the SQUIP is very much a real thing that has influenced my life since freshman year.” 

“Rich, there’s no way that’s true. It’s a bad sci-fi story.”   


“Ask Jeremy or Michael. It’s a real thing.”

“Fine,” Jake said. 

Rich smiled. “Thanks. So, I know that half the school thinks I did it to kill myself, but…”

Jake (since he had said he wouldn’t interrupt) could only listen as Rich described the events with the SQUIP leading up to the fire Saturday night.

“So is…”   


“Our fight on the boardwalk what caused it? Maybe. Not completely. I think… well, it told me to burn down the house but I can usually resist it. But I think - I think when the SQUIP told me to turn the optic nerve blocking on on you - I would walk past Jeremy and Michael and Christine, and I could watch them put a hand on your shoulder, or hit your arm, but I couldn’t see you! It was kind of scary, honestly - I think that’s when I finally snapped. I turned it off at the boardwalk so I could talk to you, you know that, right?“   


“Rich, I - “

“I owe you a million apologies, Jake. I’m a pretty big hypocrite, I mean - I’ll save that for later. I’m sorry for not defending you against Chloe, and I’m sorry for ignoring you, for the optic nerve blocking, for just - for everything, I guess.”   


“Wait, hold on, why are you a hypocrite?”

“Are you kidding me,  _ that’s _ the part of my mini-spiel you remember - “   


“Thank you for the apologies and all, but that’s the part you didn’t answer so I’m just curious.”

“Well, fine, but I had this whole speech planned out, so if you could just wait a couple minutes - ”   


“Richie….”

Rich laughed. “My nickname’s back?”   


“Only if you tell me what you were gonna say.”

“Can I call you Jakey again?”

“If you tell me what you were going to say, I’ll consider it.”

“That is  _ bribery _ .”   


Jake laughed, glad that some of the old way they talked was back. “Tell meeeee.”   


“I think I’m … oh, scratch that, I’m  _ totally  _ bi.”   


“Did you just now realize that?”   


“No, my SQUIP’s mantra was basically “you’re straight” so apparently I’ve been gay for a very long time.”   


“Good job.”

“Hey, it’s an achievement that I admitted it out loud.”   


“Any specific reason you told me?”

Rich narrowed his eyes. “You've got this look on your face like you totally already know but you're just waiting for me to confirm.”

Jake laughed. “You realize you're in a body cast, right?” 

“Would people stop reminding me of that? I am perfectly capable of flirting without my arms or legs.”

“Shut up.” 

“Make me.”   


Jake raised an eyebrow. “Cast, Richie.” 

“Would you just stop looking for a reason not to and kiss me?” 

“How mortified would you be if I didn't return the feeling?” 

“ _ Jake. _ ” 

“Fine, fine, you win.” Jake leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Rich’s lips. “Happy?” 

“No.” 

“Sucks for you. I gotta go, we skipped rehearsal for this and Reyes made us promise to make it up. See you tomorrow, Richie.”

“Wait, you're coming back tomorrow?”

Jake shrugged. “I imagine I'll come back every day till you're out of this hospital bed.”

Rich smiled. “I'll see you tomorrow then, Jakey.” 

Jake closed the door and sighed as he walked down to the waiting room. “Is it sad that I've missed hearing him call me Jakey even though it's been like, a couple days?” 

Michael opened his mouth to say something but Christine cut him off. “I think it's kinda cute. Now, Mr. Reyes needs us. Apparently, Brooke has decided to join us at our make up rehearsal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is christine/brooke pov!!
> 
> > edit: it ended up being christine and chloe pov whoops sorry <


	9. emotions: the chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hooooooly heck my dudes 
> 
> yeah have fun with this chapter

Christine had a problem. 

Well, Christine had several problems, but the main one's name was Michael Mell. 

The main issue with Michael is that he was pretty much perfect in every way, and he was basically Christine’s competition. 

Romantically wise, Christine wasn't even in the running. She and Jeremy had tried dating back in ninth grade, and while she didn't want to imply that Jeremy wasn't good at being a romantic partner, she'd much rather stick with girls than date Jeremy again. 

Friendship wise, she was losing her place as Jeremy’s best friend and  _ fast _ . 

Honestly, it'd be a lot easier to hate and be jealous of Michael if he wasn't freaking amazing and perfect for Jeremy. And Christine liked him, she really did, but she didn't want to lose her place as best friend to Jeremy’s boyfriend of a  _ week. _

Christine’s second problem was a girl named Brooke Lohst. 

Now that she's thinking about it, most of her problems are people and only like, one of them was an actual problem. 

Brooke Lohst was attractive. Like, Laura Dreyfuss, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Lea Michele attractive to Christine. 

Problem number 3’s name was Chloe Valentine. 

And Chloe thought of Brooke the same way Christine did.

Which, as you could very well guess,  _ was a freaking problem. _

Wow, you say, Christine, you have an actual real-life love triangle! That’s cool! It only happens in books!

No, it doesn’t, apparently, though Christine wishes it only happened in books so she wasn’t going to have to fight the most popular girl over her crush. 

Oh, who did she think she was kidding? If Chloe asked Brooke out, Christine was gonna stay still and cry to herself at night at best. 

Christine only knew Chloe’s big lesbian problem because she had drunk texted it (seriously, that entire group had a major problem with drunk texting) to Jeremy intending to text Jenna or something, and Jeremy had casually mentioned it to Christine, trying to make a joke about lesbians and closets, but he hadn't expected she'd freak out.

Chloe had the same problem as Jake had (though she took it a little bit to the extreme) in being a closeted gay that was the most popular kid at school. It seemed like she was so desperate to keep her popularity, she’d do anything, including being a  _ massive hypocrite _ .

Christine saw the look on her face when she threw Jake and Jeremy out. To someone who hadn’t had as much practice telling emotions through facial expressions as Christine, she was simply a cold-hearted homophobic  _ bitch _ but Christine saw some fear and sadness in her eyes and -

Anyways, back to play rehearsal. 

“Jake, I'm gonna pull a full-on Grease-style interrogation if you don't spill about what happened in that hospital room.” Christine crossed her arms as they walked into the auditorium. 

“Ha, ha. Please don't do that. I can’t pull off Danny Zuko.” 

“Who said you were Danny?”

“Low blow, Christine.”

“Tell me!”

“Later, Chrissy.”

“Jaaaaaaaaaake,” she whined. “We have time - “ 

“Christine.”

“Sorry, sorry.” 

God, was she tired of saying that. 

Look, she loved her friends with everything she had in her (and possibly a bit of the love she had set aside for her sisters) but if “Christine.” “Sorry, sorry” was the most common phrase said when they were together, something wasn't working.

“Alright, Christine, Jeremy, I believe Brooke asked specifically to work with you two…?” 

The little voice in Christine’s head went into hysterics as Christine and Jeremy separated from Jake and Michael and went off to go help Brooke out. 

Brooke smiled slightly. “Um, so, I’m kind of a notoriously terrible actress? So I figured I’d ask if you two could help me - ”

Jeremy waved her off. “Yeah, yeah, okay, you’re just going to be dancing in the background. Don’t get too excited.”   


She sighed, exasperated. “Cut the crap, okay? I know you both hate me. I have ears. I know I should have stood up for Jake and Jeremy when Chloe started acting out, I just - we were all scared of her. And - she’s getting worse, you know that, right? Rich yelled at her the other day about something. It got kinda overshadowed by what Rich did Saturday night, but Chloe freaked the fuck out when Jenna tweeted about it. I know you guys hate her, but - “   


“Brooke, shut up!” Jeremy snapped. “We’re not going to start feeling sympathy for a homophobic girl who essentially kicked us off the top of the podium at school. You know a bunch of people quit theater when Jake and Chris and I stopped being considered popular? We lost half our Newsies and our Davey. Which means we’re  _ absolutely fucking screwed _ . All thanks to your closeted lesbian bitch of a best friend.”

“Excuse you?”

Christine was just about ready to bang her head into a table. “Jeremy, did you learn  _ nothing _ from your boyfriend? You can’t just out people like that - “   


“No, I know she’s a fucking lesbian, she’s been my best friend for almost seven years now. And I want to know how you know that! She's never told anyone but me!”

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. “No, she drunk texted it to me as per usual with this group.”

“Huh. She doesn’t mean anything by what she says, you know -”   


“You are  _ delusional _ , Lohst.” Christine crossed her arms. (Using Brooke’s last name felt kind of like a power move. If she was being totally honest.) “Chloe may be gay, but she’s popular and she’s got power.”   


“She’s my best friend. Chloe would never - “

“Get your head screwed on straight, Brooke. She can and she will do anything she needs to stay popular, including dropping people from her group that she’s been friends with for years.”   


“I could talk to her and get you back in the group - “   


Christine scoffed. “No, you couldn’t.”   


“I could try!”   


Nothing Christine’s voice in her head was telling her was working, and Christine was about to straight-up punch this girl. “Will you stop defending her?”   


“God, Christine, no I will not stop trying to defend her, she’s my best friend! I love her, for fuck’s sake!”

Christine isn’t an inherently violent person, and what she did next will probably end up coming back to haunt her as a gossip story when she’s famous on Broadway, and she and Jeremy and Jake and Rich and whoever she’s dating at the time will get a good laugh over it. But for now, she was probably going to get detention and a lecture from her mom. 

Christine slapped Brooke, who stumbled backward. Jeremy’s eyes widened, and Jake and Michael looked over from where Mr. Reyes was teaching them some of the moves. Michael was trying to keep himself from laughing, Jake was glaring at him, annoyed with his reaction. Mr. Reyes stormed over to the girls and Jeremy and pointed to Christine. “Principal’s office, Miss Canigula! That is wholly inappropriate behavior!”

Christine’s mind was racing all the way to the office. She had honestly no idea what had gotten into her. 

“Christine?”   


“Jenna? It’s almost four in the afternoon. You should definitely be home by now.”   


“I got turned in by some nerd who got offended by one of my stories. I was reported to the principal for,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “disrespecting my classmates.” Jenna squinted at Christine. “Why are you here?”   


“I, um… I may have slapped Brooke?”

Jenna laughed. “I never would have pegged you as the type to get into petty catfights, Chris.”

“I got mad and I’d had a pretty bad day. I wouldn’t normally have gotten so pissed, but - “

“Well, you like her, don’t you? And you know it’s unrequited because she talks about Chloe like she hung the damn moon and makes the stars shine all by themselves.”

“How the heck - “   


Jenna grinned. “Drama queen, meet gossip queen. I’ve had as much practice reading facial expressions as you have.” She stared at her feet. “Plus, I was kind of in the same position.”

“Say what now?”   


“I used to have a crush on Brooke too. But you know, fucking Chloe Valentine had to get in the way and exist.“   


“Freaking Chloe Valentine,” Christine agreed.

\-----

Ah, yes, fucking Chloe Valentine. 

The Santana Lopez of Middleborough High, and hopelessly in love with her best friend. (So basically just Santana.) 

Chloe, that means that you’re a hypocrite, you say. Well, the thing is, she doesn’t give a fuck anymore. She knows she’s emotionally manipulative, she knows that she needs to stop whatever she’s doing, and she knows that Brooke follows her around like a lost puppy and she  _ revels _ in it. Chloe loves attention, always has, always will. It makes her feel appreciated, and while that sounds absolutely awful, she loves it. 

She knows that Jenna liked Brooke, and she knows that Christine does too. She knows that Christine, who’s not a very violent person whatsoever, slapped Brooke because Brooke tried to defend Chloe. Chloe knows she doesn’t deserve Brooke’s defense, but god, Chloe knows she’s got that girl whipped. She knows Brooke’s bent to her very will, and it doesn’t scare her anymore. Chloe’s become a cautionary tale, right up alongside Rich. Don’t get popular doesn’t seem like a lesson need to be taught, but popularity and relative fame is addicting. She’s gotten dependent on it, doing anything to keep herself at the top. 

She has no reasoning behind keeping Jake’s secret for so long and then acting on it. Chloe has nothing against Michael, she really doesn’t. She’s got no reason behind being a hypocrite, which is what Jeremy whispers every time they pass each other in the hall. 

_ Hey, watch out for the gays,  _ she’ll call as Jeremy and Michael hug in the hallway. She’s made fun of the newly outed Jake on her Twitter more times than she can count. It’s the Wednesday after the Saturday Rich burnt down his house, and Chloe’s spread more rumors about him than Jenna Rolan herself. 

They’re still scared of her. Her superiority complex is telling her that that’s a good thing, but she’s been so rude to her friends for so long there’s barely a point to it anymore. She can tell that Jenna’s on the fringe of leaving, which leaves the group of the most popular kids in school down to two. Seven to two in a week.

But  _ why _ ? Is there even a reason to her madness?

Yes, yes, there is. She knows that her methods are more abusive than most, but she really does care about Brooke and their friendship. They love each other. 

At least that’s what she’s convinced herself. 

Jenna dragged Chloe off to the side of the hallway on Tuesday and told her she needed to lay off Brooke for joining theater. Chloe had immediately snapped at her and threatened her popularity and social standing.

Oh, forget the power speech above, Chloe needed help. She needed so much help, and she needed it fast. She was no better than any villain, any SQUIP, any hypocrite. She could explain it all away, blame it on internalized homophobia, blame it on her home life, but she’d still scare people. She needed to fix something. 

It was high time she got around to fixing something in her life, and Chloe needed a starting point. Not the mess that was Christine and Jenna and Brooke, no, Chloe was too much of a fucking  _ coward  _ to do that, she’d have to work up the courage for that later. 

Something smaller? Someone she’d screwed up earlier with. Even Jeremy and Michael would have to be a project for later.

_ Jake. _

Chloe cornered him as he walked out of theater class, and Christine and the two boys scattered off. 

“Jake, we need to talk.”   


“You’re less intimidating without the heels.”   


“What the - I’m five foot eight!”   


“I’m almost six feet tall. What do you want, Valentine?”   


“I want to apologize.”   


Jake narrowed his eyes. “You do? Really? Am I dreaming?”

“Jesus - if I’ve screwed up so badly that any apology coming from me seems like a hallucination, I owe you a lot more apologies. I’m sorry for treating you like shit, but I - I need help.”

“With what?”

“With getting back on my feet.”   


“Chloe, that makes literally no sense.”   


“I broke, Jake. I can’t do this anymore. I’ve hurt so, so many people and they didn’t deserve to be hurt. I owe so many people apologies, but I can’t do this on my own - I just need your help. I don’t want to be this girl the rest of my life.”

Jake looked taken aback. “This is really sudden, Chloe.”   


Chloe bit her lip. “Jake, I’m so sorry. Please, you don’t have to be my friend anymore, you just have to help me one last time.”

Jake sighed. “Come here.” He hugged her as she buried her face in his jacket.    


“I’m such a terrible person,” she mumbled.   


“I’m not going to try and deny that, Chloe. But if you’re really willing to try and get better, I’ll give you one last shot.”

Chloe hugged him tighter. “Thank you. That means so much to me, honest.”   


“No problem. I’m all for giving second chances.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chloe valentine redemption arc??? sign me the fuCK up


	10. these kids need a break jfc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry in advance guys i swear i love the boys
> 
> also, i'd like to mention that i know nothing about what happens in this chapter so if my google-powered research isn't correct feel free to correct me in the comments!!! i won't be offended and i'll probably edit it

Jeremy leaned back and crossed his arms. “Absolutely not.”   


“ _ Hell _ no,” Michael agreed. “Jake, I can’t believe you even spoke to this girl.”   


“Excuse you? I am not “this girl”, I am…” Chloe trailed off as Jake shot her a look. “I suppose I deserved that,” she said quietly.

“Michael, you forgave Rich - “ Jake pointed out, getting frustrated.   


“No, no I did not forgive Rich, I offered him a chance to prove that he could change because he has an excuse - she does not. Chloe Valentine is not someone who can change.”

Chloe blinked a couple times and sighed. “Yeah. Maybe I can’t. But I’m trying.”   


“Trying, my ass. You hurt people. You hurt a lot more people than you ever should have. No amount of “I’m trying to get better” can undo what you’ve done. Chloe, you are a fucking terrible person. You are abusive, you are manipulative, you are way too smart for someone with the kind of power over people you have. You’re the antagonist, you are the  _ villain _ , you are the bad guy here, Chloe. There is no taking that back. There is no changing, there’s no getting better. I owe you no second chances. No one at this school owes you anything.” Michael stood up, slamming the classroom door behind him. 

“Michael - “ Jeremy got up and followed him out. He crossed his arms. “And here I was thinking you’d agreed to play nice.”   


“She’s lying, can’t you tell? People don’t change. They just don’t.”   


“That is so insanely untrue.”   


“Okay, you’re probably right, but  _ she _ won’t change.”   


“And what reason do we have to believe that?”   


“Why are you defending her?! Jeremy, you agreed with me earlier, I - “

“Michael, please. For me?” 

“I'm not falling for that.” 

“Michaellllll.” 

Michael kissed him on the cheek. “Fine. I'll go back in there. But since she has yet to give me legitimate proof that she's actually going to work at this, I'm not going in there to give her a second chance.” 

“I know. I know that I know that she and Rich have made your life a living hell, and I don't expect you to forgive them right away. Or ever, if it comes to that. But you should at least hear Chloe out. You did it for Rich.”

“He tried to kill himself because he had a supercomputer in his head telling him to do things he didn’t want to do. I think the situation’s different.”

“Maybe so. But I want you to give her the opportunity to explain.”

“Fine.”

“Thanks, Mikey.”

Michael flushed. “You do not just throw a nickname into the mix like that - “ 

“C’mon, let's go.” Jeremy smiled. “ _ Mikey _ .” 

“I hate you.” 

“You love me,” Jeremy said as he pushed open the door to the classroom the four of them had hijacked. 

Jake raised an eyebrow. “I do not want to know what you two talked about out there.”   


Michael reached over and hit him on the arm. “Jake, no.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and laughed. “Okay, so after that, we’ve agreed to give you another shot - “ He paused as Jake’s phone rang. He and Chloe shared a look, and she shrugged. Michael looked confused as well, and he stared at Jake.

“Yes, this is Jake.” Beat. “Oh, am I still his emergency contact? What’s up?” Jeremy and Michael glanced at each other. “What did you say? No, no, that can’t be right. I saw him yesterday. He was doing just fine - yes, of course, I’ll be right there.”

“What's going on?” Jeremy asked, concerned. 

“There’s - I have to go. I’m sorry, guys, something’s up with Rich, I have to get to the hospital.”

“What? What's wrong? You said he was doing just fine yesterday when you went and saw him - “ 

“Yeah, but they had to do some surgery on his legs where some of the fire damage was the worst, and - something went wrong, he hasn't woken up yet. They said they normally wouldn't have called, but it's been a little while and nothing - nothing’s worked.” Jake was obviously fighting back tears. “I - I ended up walking to school today, so I'm not sure…” he trailed off as Michael and Chloe jumped up. 

“I can drive you, Jake,” he said as Chloe said, “I've got my car, I can take you.” They glared at each other as Jake smiled slightly. 

“Chloe, I think your time to go see Rich is not now. Michael, same parking space as always?” 

Michael nodded. “Jer, you coming?” 

He shook his head. “I think I'm gonna drop by Chris’s house and let her know.” He lowered his voice to talk to Michael. “I'm proud of you, you know. I know you're not a huge fan of Rich, so it’s good of you to drive Jake to go see him.” Michael smiled as Jeremy turned back towards the other two. “Chloe, we'll finish this tomorrow.” 

“But - “ 

Jeremy cut her off. “You wanted to have a lesson in people actually liking you? Rich is in the hospital, possibly going to die, and you are trying to put yourself first. Go home, Chloe. We'll finish this tomorrow.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. See ya.” 

Michael put his arm around Jake's shoulder as the two boys waved goodbye to Jeremy and headed in the opposite direction. Jeremy picked up his phone and dialed his best friend's number. 

“Hey, Jerm. What's up? Didn't you have your meeting with the school's queen bee today?” 

“Hey, Chris. Yeah, but it ended early because of… lemme just cut to the chase. Something went wrong with Rich’s surgery, and he's not waking up. Jake didn't have any way of getting to the hospital, so Michael took him in his car.”

“HEY MOM, I'M TAKING YOUR CAR!” Jeremy heard Christine yell. “You're still at school?” she asked.

Jeremy nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him. “Yeah. Over by the exit that's next to the Chem classroom.” Jeremy groaned. “Fuck, that Chem partner project's due next week, isn't it?” 

“Yes, it is.” He heard the click of the seat belt. “I'm sure you and Michael will do fine on it, though. It's really not something you should be worrying about right now.”

“Are you driving?” 

“Yes. You're on speaker, don't worry.” 

“Don't crash.” 

“I  _ won't. _ Hold on, my mom's calling. I didn't exactly give a reason why I was talking the car.” Christine ended the call. Jeremy started to pace the grass, waving to his French teacher while she walked away. She gave him a strange look as Christine pulled up, still visibly arguing with someone. Jeremy ran to her car and got into the passenger seat.

“Mom, he's in the hospital - no, I knew you needed to leave at 6, I'll be back by then or I'll at least have - okay, bye. Thank you.” 

“That was short.” 

“Bailey was the one calling me, so I had to get her to give the phone to my mom first. Shall we go?” 

Jeremy nodded. The car ride was silent except for Christine’s speakers playing show tunes, specifically “Charming” at the moment. Eventually, Christine spoke up.

“I know this isn't exactly the best time, but I did mean to ask you something…” 

“Mhmm?” 

“Um, well, since you've started dating Michael, we stopped hanging out every night, and I know it's kind of irrational, but - “ 

“You're worried I'll ditch you for him,” Jeremy said softly. 

Christine nodded. “It's stupid, I know - “ 

“No, it's not stupid! I can't blame you for feeling that way, I mean - but we are almost at the hospital, so we should finish this conversation later.” 

“Yeah. It's silly, though, it's not like you blew me off - and he's your boyfriend!” Christine’s eyes widened. “Right, I meant to ask - “ 

“There is no good end to that sentence.” 

“Shut up. I need something to get my mind off of the situation, and I have some questions I need to ask you about your relationship.”

Jeremy shut his eyes tightly. “Please don't ask what I think you're gonna ask.”

“Well, it’s not like your dad is gonna ask you anything about Michael, so - “   


“La, la, la, la, la I’m not listening to you.”   


“Jeremy!” 

“I can’t hear youuuuuuu.”   


“Jeremy. Let’s start with the easy question: do you think you’ll break up or do you think you’ll stay together for a while?”

“You tell me. I hope we stay together for a while, at least senior year, but I don’t really know. I guess I can hope for a long relationship, but it’s kind of unrealistic.”   


“Hmm. Well, you got lucky, we’re at the hospital, and I think we have to be serious now, so… yeah.”

“Thank _god._ Okay, lemme get ahold of Michael, we can find out where they are…”  


\-----

Jake didn't want to admit to himself that he was scared. He was positive Rich was going to wake up. 

Right? 

He knew that Michael was sneaking glances over from his half of the room as he talked quietly with Jeremy and Christine. It made sense to him, after he had had to comfort Jake in the hospital parking lot (long story short, Jake had a breakdown in the car as they had driven into the parking lot and Michael had to calm him down.) He knew that it was possible that his best friend wasn't going to wake up. Jake had to practically beg the nurses to not call Rich’s family, and even then they were skeptical about his motives. They'd offered to call Jake's parents, which he'd turned down, much to Michael's confusion. Unlike the first hospital visit, Jake had sat frozen in a chair the entire time, shocked. 

Christine had tried to talk to him earlier when she and Jeremy had first arrived. Jake had waved her off, and no one had tried to interact with him after that. It was like there was waves of don’t-fucking-touch-me coming off of him.

Not like he was complaining. Everyone was treating him like Rich had died, like he’d just lost someone special. Jake didn’t want to think like that. The nurse had assured him the doctors were sure of the problem and they were doing everything they could do to fix it. 

So why did he insist on isolating himself from his friends, who had all come to support him? Jenna and Brooke had even called Jake a few minutes earlier, and Brooke passed on Chloe’s condolences as well.

Seriously, why was everyone acting like Rich was already dead? He  _ wasn’t  _ and that was something to focus on. 

God, he just wanted it all to be over. He wanted the doctor to walk in and say that Rich had finally woken up and they could see him. 

Wanting wasn’t working, obviously. Jake was scared to death that his best friend - well, not really best friend - was dead. Laying in that hospital bed, after surviving a  _ freaking _ house fire, dead. 

He needed a distraction, so he set his mind on his newest pet project, now that Jeremy and Michael were together and he’d finally come out: Chloe Valentine. 

Pet project sounded mean. He was trying to help her be a genuinely likable person and not the bitch she was until she’d broke down and begged him for help. Well, she was still a bitch, but she was trying - and Jake was pretty sure what Michael had said to her had really gotten to her, somehow. As long as she didn’t try to have sex with him again - that was weird, and proved to Jake that he had  _ no _ idea why they had dated for so long, seriously…  

Anyways, she was trying. Most of her tweets about Rich, himself, Michael and Jeremy, the drama club, etcetera, had been deleted, and she was generally a nicer person. Then again, Chloe had had one day to change and Jake couldn’t really judge her progress yet. 

“Jake?” The nurse’s voice from the doorway cut off Jake’s inner monologue. “We have good news.”   


Christine, Jeremy, and Michael glanced up. Jake looked at her hopefully. 

“He’s not awake yet - “ Jake’s face fell. “But we believe that we’ve diagnosed and solved the problem, and he may wake up soon.”

Jake jumped up. “Can I see him?”   


“No, I’m sorry, we’d like to make sure your friend is stable and completely safe before we let him have visitors,” He smiled apologetically. “We’ll let you know when you can, though.” 

“Oh. Okay. Thank you.”

“No problem.” The nurse walked out.

Christine smiled at him. “That’s really good, Jake.”   


He blinked away the tears in his eyes. “Yeah.” 

She stood up and walked over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. (Or, tried to. It was more like his upper back, considering he was more than a foot taller than her, but Jake appreciated the sentiment.) “You alright?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe - I can’t say I’m lucky, exactly, but he’s alive.”

She smiled even brighter. “He is.” Christine looked up at him, tears still pooling in his eyes. “Jake, are you sure you’re okay?”

Jake sighed. “What if I had lost him? We’ve still got so many things to fix - “

“Shhh, don’t think like that. He’s gonna be fine, and you can mend your relationship later. For now, just enjoy the good news.”

The nurse poked his head through the doorway. “Um, Mister… Dillinger, was it?” Jake nodded. “Your friend is awake, and one of the first things he asked was to see you. Fair warning, though, he’s still a little foggy because of how long he was under the medicine.”

Jake laughed. “I’ve dealt with him while he’s worse.”   


The nurse smiled. “Then come on back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please direct any and all threats to @amusicaltrashcan they told me they wanted some rich angst so... yeah. blame them


	11. jake's life really sucks doesn't it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heh enjoy

Rich couldn’t say he hadn’t wished that he had died from the medicine. It had been what, four days since the original thing that had landed him in the hospital? On Tuesday, when he’d basically forced Jake to read him what the other kids had been saying about him on social media. 

_ Changed my profile pic to support my friend in the hospital! _ _  
_

_ Can’t believe the tragedy. Heard from Chloe that Rich died in a fire! _ _  
_

_ I read that he leveled the block! _ _  
_

_ OMG, I heard about Rich! What a tragedy! _ _  
_

100+ likes. 200+ likes. But not one attempt to connect with Rich to check up and see how he was actually doing. 

_ I thought he killed himself? _

_ Yeah, Jenna Rolan said he killed himself because he was gay. So sad!! _ _  
_

_ Oh my god, he’s totally dead! R.I.P. Rich!!!!! _ _  
_

300+ tagged posts. 400+ tweets about him. Maybe three text messages, tops, from people. 

He’d made Jake stop at Chloe’s posts. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say about how much she cared about his fucking tragedy. 

So yeah, once he’d discovered that he’d been miraculously saved from an accidental mini-coma, Rich kind of wished he hadn’t been saved and woken up.

That mindset changed as soon as Jake walked into the room, tears still in his eyes.

Now, love or a relationship can’t cure depression, because that’s literally not how depression works, and Rich would never claim that Jake is the only reason he didn’t stay in the house any longer than he did, but the little glimmer of hope, the fact that Jake had kissed him and didn’t seem disgusted about it, gave Rich a reason to keep going one more day. Just to see what happened next.

Well, they had also just taken off that stupid fucking body cast for the surgery, which was a bonus.

On a side note, the SQUIP made the depression “go away”, forcing his brain to produce the neurochemicals Rich needed itself, so it made Rich forget about the illness for a few years, which he enjoyed. But with the tic-tac Mac nearly destroyed, the mentality came back in spades.

“Rich - “

“I’m going to stop you right there. Before you tell me how glad you are that I’m not dead, just know that I already know that you’re glad I’m not dead.  _ I’m _ even kind of happy I’m not dead. I don’t want to hear “I don’t know what I would have done without you” because you would have kept living on just fine. Now, continue.”   


Jake laughed. “God, I’ve missed this version of you.”

“Yeah, yeah, so have I. I’m finally out of that cast, though, hey? The doctors said that this treatment, the surgery - it wasn’t even available for burn patients back in  _ 2015 _ . I’m really lucky, they say I might be out of this damn place by next week.”

“That’s - “   


“Fucking awesome, I know, right? I mean, I don’t really want to face the students, but I want out of this hospital.”

Jake put his face in his hands. “Why are you like this?”   


“If I’m not positive, the crippling feeling of wanting to die takes over again.”   


“ _ Rich. _ ”   


“What?” He grinned.

Jake shook his head. “How are you so happy? You could have died not ten minutes ago.”   


“But I didn’t, and the only thing wrong with me is the soon-to-be scars and the fact that I took a drug from Japan to be popular. There’s not even real lasting effects from the surgery mishap - besides paperwork, I mean. Seriously, they make me do  _ paperwork _ . I just can’t wait to get out of here.”   


“Where are you going to stay?” Jake asked.

Rich shrugged as best he could, his arms still hurting whenever he moved them. “I don’t know. Do you think your parents would mind me staying with you? I don’t think I could live with my dad and my brother anymore.”   


“I’m not even sure they’d notice. They’re not home very often.” Jake stared at his shoes. “Or at all,” he muttered. “But anyways, you’d have to deal with Christine constantly over there - it was our compromise when she found out that my parents basically didn't even live there anymore. She wanted me to come live with her, I said no, and so she told me I could either stay with her or have her over at my house to check up on me after school.”

“Christine’s the short one that’s a really good actress, right? The one that’s been in all the plays we went to when the popular group was still together?”   


“Yeah, she’s that one - you sat across from her at lunch for two and a half years, Rich.”

“My memory’s shot,” Rich said apologetically, “the Japanese murder drug took a lot of memories with it when it shut off.”   


“Japanese murder drug, huh?”   


“Michael and I are having a competition to who can come up with the stupidest names for that overpriced tic-tac. I’m winning.”

“Sounds like fun. I’m glad you two are finally becoming friends.”   


“I wouldn’t call us friends, but… I tormented him for years. He deserves the ability to forgive me at his own pace.”   


“That’s true.”   


There was a pause as the boys just looked at each other until Rich spoke up. “What are we doing here?”   


“Hmm?”   


“Why are you here? Why do you keep coming back? I know you remember last Saturday, and I know you remember last Monday… so why?”

“I think I screwed up the most Saturday, actually - “   


“Well, I’ve been screwing up for two and a half years now, so shut up about how mean you were to me because - “   


“If you’re about to call yourself a hypocrite just know that miss Chloe Valentine takes that title and nothing you did can even amount - “ He stopped himself. “She was way worse than you, promise.”

Rich raised an eyebrow. “And when did you discover this?”

“It’s a really long story.”

“Okay, changing the subject - do you like me, Jake?”   


Jake laughed nervously. “Well, I mean, yeah - “   


“As more than friends.”   


He spluttered. “Well - “   


“No deflecting. Answer my question.”

“You answer first.”   


“Yes, obviously. Have you forgotten Monday?”

“If I say yes, will you be mad?”

“No, it would explain a lot.”   


“Well, then - oh yeah, that was Monday. Yes, I like you as more than a friend.”   


“So does that mean that we’re dating?”   


Jake laughed, seemingly happier than he had been all day. “Sure, Rich. We’re dating now.”

“Great. I’ll take you out on a date as soon as it doesn’t hurt to move.”   


“Works for me.”

\-----

Jake was downright giddy as he walked back into the waiting room. “Hey, normally - “

“Right, time to go home, Jake.” Michael stood up.   


“Wait, why?”   


Michael glanced at Jeremy, who nodded. “Um, well, I don’t know how exactly to phrase this…”   


“Just say it, then.”   


“Well, you left your phone in here, and…”

“Yeah?”

“... you got a call from your parents. Christine picked up and - “   


“Oh god.”   


“ - they’re home.”   


Jake sighed. “Of course they are. Of course! Now that I finally got something figured out they’re gonna come and screw it up.”   


“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Jeremy offered.    


“You don’t know my parents. They left fourteen-year-old me alone for  _ two years _ . And they want to just drop by and say hi?!”   


“I’m coming with you.” Christine stood up next to Michael, leaving Jeremy to begrudgingly get up last.

“Jer-Bear, I’ll drive you home then, okay? Michael asked, and Jeremy nodded in return.

“So I’ll take Jake home,” Christine said. “And I’ll stay with you if your parents want to talk.”

“I - okay. Thank you.”   


“Alright. Michael, Jeremy, see you two at school tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you then.”

Jake was silent the entire drive home. Any attempt to strike up conversation by Christine was met with a shake of his head and eventually, she just stopped trying and let her music fill the dead air.

“We’re here.” Christine got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She offered her arm to Jake. “Here. I’m not leaving until you absolutely need me too.”

Jake looped his arm through hers. “If they ask, you’re not my girlfriend. I have a boyfriend.”   


“Since  _ when _ ?”   


“Since about thirty minutes ago. Now, let’s go inside.”

“We are talking about this later!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Jake said, laughing as he pushed open the door. “Hello?” he called. After a long pause, he turned to Christine. “I guess - “

“Jakey?”   


“Mom,” he said stiffly. Christine gripped his arm tighter.

Jake’s mom came into full view. She looked like a typical suburban mom - except tired and haggard, since she’d been on the run for years. “And is this the lovely lady that answered the phone?”

“Yeah that’s Christine. Why are you here?”   


“Well, we’re looking for something - “   


“So why’d you call me? You could have taken whatever money you needed and then left. I wasn’t here.”

“Well, I wanted to check up on my little boy! It’s been so long since your father and I have seen you.“   


“Yeah, because you abandoned me in the middle of the night during freshman year,” Jake snapped. He glanced at Christine who shrugged and gave him a thumbs up.

“Well, I’ll admit that was irresponsible, but we needed to leave!”

“And I was too much for you to bring along with? You want to know the amount of mental  _ shit  _ that puts a kid through? You basically left me here to die. Thank god for instant ramen and the Internet, because I don’t think I would have made it past freshman year without them. And you know I was too embarrassed to tell anyone you left because I thought you left me because I wasn’t good enough? I lived alone for two years. Why do you need to see me now? That’s just - “   


“Downright fucking horrible,” Christine interrupted. Jake stared at her. Christine  _ rarely _ swore, and she had to get insanely mad to use ‘fucking’ in place of ‘freaking’ or whatever she usually said. Christine met his gaze and glared at him, and Jake backed down and let her continue. “Jake didn’t tell anyone that he lived alone until last week. Five days ago! And I had to force him to tell me. Because people  _ believe _ what he’s told them, about you guys leaving for business trips and just not coming back all that often. No one thinks to ask. I think that Jake’s started to convince himself that everything’s fine, that what goes on in your screwed-up idea of a family is perfectly normal, because he was genuinely shocked to see how my family functioned - don’t look at me like that, Jake, you looked surprised the second you walked into the house and my mom greeted us. When I answered the phone, you didn't even ask why someone that wasn’t Jake answered his cell phone, you just told me to tell him that he needed to come home and see you. You didn’t want to know where he was - by the way, we were at the  _ hospital _ \- you just wanted to know if he could come see you. And that is  _ pretty goddamn fucked up. _ ”   


“Nice language,” Jake muttered. 

Christine, slightly out of breath from her rant, hit him on his arm. “Hypocrite.”

“Nah, people expect that kind of stuff from me. But I don’t usually hear you use worse than ‘crap’.”

Jake’s mom looked mildly offended. “Well, I don’t think you should get to speak to me like that - “   


“Mom?”

“Yes, Jakey?”   


“Just leave. Christine and I are going to head out and - and don’t be here when I…” He glanced at Christine. 

“When we get back,” she finished. “I’m staying here tonight.”   


“Alright then.”   


Jake stood there, staring at his mom, until Christine grabbed his wrist and dragged him back outside. 

Jake looked down at her. “Thank you. I don’t think I could have said all that to them.”

“Well, I did.”   


“Yeah. And thank you.”   


Christine glanced up at him. “I hate this height difference so much.”   


“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Jake laughed. “So where to?”   


“What time is it, like, seven?  _ Shoot, I was supposed to have the car home by seven.  _ “   


“Good job.” 

“Shut  _ up. _ I guess you’re coming to my house then, Jake.”   


“I’m not even playing an active role in this day. Like, I have no control over what's happened.”

“Save the complaining for later. Let’s  _ go. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in other news, i've been listening to samantha marie ware's version of tightrope for an hour straight 
> 
> christine is a godsend tbh


	12. "it'll make sense later i swear": the chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> imsosorrybutichangedtheshippingandsoithadtohappen

Christine was kind of disappointed in Jake for being so adamant to never give his parents a second chance - after all, he was only sixteen and he still needed his parents. 

She’d given up on begging him to come home with her and stay with her family; it was clear he felt awkward and would rather not. That’s where the compromise came in - if he wasn’t going to stay with her, she was going to constantly check up on him. 

Jake had told her while they were over at her house the night before - well, he had told her two things, but one was kind of irrelevant to the present conversation - that Rich was going to start living with him, and Christine was not exactly thrilled, and that was being nice. She thought it was a terrible idea. 

First of all, they were dating, and they were teenage boys - you can gather her thought process from there. Second of all, she still didn’t really  _ like  _ Rich and, whenever she got permission from her mom, she basically spent half her nights at Jake’s (hey, his house was nice and they were good friends) which would mean that she’d have to spend her Saturdays - 

Wait, wasn't Saturday the day that the four of them had set aside to hang out together? What exactly was - 

Oh, wait. It had gotten canceled this weekend because of Jeremy and Michael’s freaking date. 

_ Don’t think like that _ , she scolded herself.  _ He promised he’d spend time with you. _

What was the point of this anymore? Best friends - they came in phases, apparently. It was simply Christine’s turn to give up the position. 

_ Okay, don’t think like that either. Just - if you want to hang out with him, work up the courage to freaking ask.  _

Again, this whole mess would be so much easier if Michael wasn’t so dang likable. 

So far, one of the only good things that had happened this week - it was Friday - was Christine finally getting over her crush on Brooke. 

Maybe it was the knowledge that since Chloe was trying to change - and be a person that could be a decent romantic partner - that finally stopped it, but who knows, honestly. Maybe she just wasn’t attracted to Brooke anymore. 

“Hey, Chris!” Jeremy ran up to her, breathing hard. 

Christine laughed. “How fast did you have to run to catch up to me?”   


“Oh, shut up.”   


“So you can dance a very complicated dance, and sing during it, but you can’t run from Calculus to the auditorium without dying?”

Jeremy laughed. “Evidently not. You ready for staging?”

She sighed. “Is anyone ever really ready for staging? I love the club and all, but getting yelled at that I need to stand in the exact right spot every dang time we go through the scene at the beginning of King Of New York - not even Kara has to stand in the exact same spot!”

“... you’re not Kara.“   


Christine laughed as she pushed open the door to the auditorium. “So, we do have a slight problem in that Jake decided to skip school today, but we have a Crutchie understudy, right?”

“We do?” He thought for a moment. “I don’t think we do, actually.”

“Well, shoot.”

Jeremy put a hand on her shoulder as they sat down. “It’ll be fine. Reyes can spend, like, thirty minutes per scene if he really wants to make it perfect.”   


“Yeah, I know. Are we doing the dances today or…?”   


“I’m not sure. Hey, have you seen Michael?”   


“Yeah, we have fifth together… there was something he wanted me to tell you, but I can’t remember - wait, no, I remember now. The ELA teacher needed him to make up the test from the day we all skipped.”   


“Why hasn’t he made that up yet?”   


“Ask him, not me. He said he’d try and make it to rehearsal, though.”

“Hmm. So, Jake skipped out today?” 

“Yep. So it's just you and me. Like old times.” 

“Just like old times,” Jeremy agreed. 

“Hey, so - “ Christine started as Jeremy said, “Um, I had -”. They both laughed, and Christine gestured for him to go first. 

“Okay, um, I had something I needed to ask you… you're not jealous of Michael, are you?”

Christine didn't say anything. 

“Chrissy?” 

“Well, I mean, it depends on what you define as truly being jealous of him is - “

“You are!” 

“Are you surprised?” 

“... no, not really.”

“Are you not surprised that I'm jealous of Michael or just in general?” 

“Of Michael. You've been sort of my… “ 

“Scene partner. You called me your “scene partner in the play of life”.” 

Jeremy cringed. “Well, besides the cheesy context, the “you are my best friend and I love you” implications still stand. I just… I said I'd try and spend more time with you, didn't I?” 

Christine crossed her arms. “And then whenever it's the three of us in a room, you go straight to Michael. Well, maybe not straight - “

Jeremy laughed. “Nicely done. I don't know what I'm supposed to promise you, Chris. I love him, you know that, right? He makes me feel like I've known him for years.” 

“Well, you actually have known me for years. So...” 

“So what?” 

“So maybe you'd think to spend a little bit more time with me!” 

“I spent every day with you twelve years! You're being selfish!” 

“You're being a bad friend!” 

Jeremy stood up. “Suddenly, I'm not in the mood for rehearsal. Reyes’ll understand.” 

Christine tried to follow him out, but he shut the door in her face, drawing the students’ attention to her. She smiled sheepishly, trying not to make it obvious she was about to cry. “Um, I’ll be right back. Bathroom.” The teacher nodded and Christine left. 

Slamming the door the girl’s bathroom, Christine rested her head against the mirror as she started to cry. She wasn’t sure how she’d screwed up so badly - and yes, she truly believed that she screwed up, shut up - and it was weird, this being one of the only times her and Jeremy had fought. 

The door opened.

“Christine?”   
\-----

Michael wasn’t normally this mad at himself - well, it didn’t take a lot for Michael to get mad at himself but it took a lot more for him to get  _ this _ mad at himself - but he’d decided that today was the day he - well, technically Christine, too - needed to learn how to lie to his boyfriend.

He’d made that test up last week. What he was really doing was going to the hospital. 

You’d think he wouldn’t need to lie about that, but no, his brain had convinced him that if Jeremy knew he was ditching rehearsal to hang out with someone he’d claimed to hate (and he did still kind of hate Rich, but he needed to talk to someone who wasn’t Jeremy and Jake had decided to skip school that day) he’d flip out. 

He was going to owe Christine a million “thank you”s, even though she didn’t really like him (he had eyes, he could tell that she was jealous of him.) She knew he was lying - they made up the test on the same day. Why she covered for him, he had no idea. 

Actually, (and this is going to sound pretty bitchy) he was relatively sure she was that desperate to hang out with Jeremy. 

It didn’t really matter. 

There was even a decent reason for him going to see Rich - he’d been bored in study hall and he’d managed to find a little bit more stuff on the SQUIP. 

Michael pulled up to the hospital and checked in with the front office. The nurses there had seen the four kids so much the past couple weeks they knew Michael’s name, so they just waved him on and reminded him that if the doctors came in, he had to leave. Today, they told him that if a physical therapist came in, he was welcome to stay and help out his friend - apparently, when you’re in a full body cast for a week, your arms and legs don’t work as well as they used to.

It still felt weird, going to visit your ex-bully in the hospital, even for a semi-reasonable thing. Michael knocked on the open door and smiled. “Hey, Rich.”   


The boy in the bed waved as best he could. “Hey. Skipping rehearsal to hang with your best friend?”   


Michael laughed a little. “That implies I have enough friends to pick a “best” one.”   


“Oh, take that depressing shit somewhere else. You have at least four friends. Which means you have enough to pick a best one.”

“You’re still not my best friend.”   


“Fair enough. So why did you decide to grace me with your presence today, Mell - Michael? Sorry. Old habits die hard.”

“It’s fine. Would it be weird to say that I came just to say hi? Well, I have new SQUIP info, but I have - “   


Rich waved him off. “They let me have my phone, you know. You don’t have anything I don’t already know.”

“Is that a challenge?”   


“No, it's not a challenge. Just stay here and hang out, okay?”

“So you get out sometime next week?” 

Rich grinned. “I get out as soon as the physical therapist deems me able to walk.” 

“Yeah, the nurse mentioned something about you having an appointment like that today. She said I was welcome to stay and help out, which kind of makes me think she's not entirely sure which one of the three boys is the one you're dating.” 

“Pfft. She'd know if she was ever in here when Jake is.” 

Michael sat down on the side of Rich’s bed. “You excited to go back to school?”

“Are you kidding? Hell no. But hey, I'll have friends there, at least.”

Michael shifted so he was closer to Rich. “Yeah, I guess you will.” 

“So tell me more. What's school like now that the most popular kids in school are a) gay, b) hospitalized, or c) gay and slightly less of a complete and total bitch?” 

“.... exactly the same.”

“What?” 

“Like, nothing’s changed. It's so weird.”

“Maybe we had less influence than we thought.” 

“Yeah…” 

The conversation kind of stalled at that point. Rich twisted his fingers nervously, grimacing as the burns rubbed against each other. “Hey, you don't think people are gonna tease me about the burns?” 

“Well, I think they probably will, but you're going to have to deal with it.” 

“See, that's part of the problem with this damn murder Siri.” He sighed. “Ugh, I wish its goddamn plan had just worked.” 

“What? Don't say that.” 

“I'm sorry, I just can't help feeling like - why didn't it work? Why didn't I - “ 

The rest of Rich’s sentence was cut off as Michael leaned to the side and kissed him. Rich pulled away after barely a second, and Michael looked mortified. 

“I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me - “ 

Rich exhaled slowly, mad at himself and at Michael. “I think you need to leave.” 

Michael nodded and stood up, running out of the room.

He felt terrible. He was a despicable human being - that was cheating, what he did. He kissed his best friend's boyfriend -  _ and he enjoyed it _ . 

Michael wasn't sure what part of it he hated more: the fact that Rich had kissed him back, in that brief second, or the fact that that gave him _ hope _ . 

God, why, why,  _ why?! _ He just wanted to go back and time and stop himself.

Tears started streaming down his face as he got into the car. He had no options about who to tell - Christine would tell Jeremy, Jake was Rich’s boyfriend, it was Jeremy he had cheated on - so what was he supposed to do?

There was no way he could face Jeremy tomorrow. Or anyone, for that matter. 

What was he going to do now?   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do NOT kill me just reread the tags


	13. it's happy and then i fuck it up because screw u

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it scares me that i will someday be as fucking stupid as these kids

Jenna pushed open the door to the bathroom slowly, trying not to startle the girl currently crying over the sink. “Christine?”

Christine glanced up and brushed the tears from her eyes. “Sorry, I can go - I’m just being stupid, anyway, I need to go - “ She was stumbling over her words still.

Jenna closed the door behind her. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine - seriously, I can go, I need to get back to rehearsal anyway.”

“You’re not fine, you’re crying in the girl’s bathroom instead of hanging out with your best friend at rehearsal. What’s wrong?”

“Did Brooke quit theater or something? ‘Cause she hasn’t been there in a few days…”

“Yes, she did quit, but that’s not the point of the discussion we’re having right now. What’s wrong, Christine?”

She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. “I just - I had a fight with Jeremy and then he stormed out and it made me look kinda stupid and I was kind of embarrassed and then I ran out, I guess, I don’t know, I’m just being stupid, I’m sorry - “  
Jenna sat down next to her. “Stop apologizing, for god’s sake, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, you don’t get it, I did screw up, it’s my fault, I was being too selfish, and - and I was being a bad friend, but we never fight like this, we never have - “

“Then you’re both fucking robots. I’ve known you and Jeremy since fifth or sixth grade, and you were inseparable back then too. I’m sure you’ve fought with him before.”

“Yeah, but this time it was about Michael - not really about him, I'm just - jealous of him, I guess?”

“I get the feeling. Third-wheeling - that's what hanging with Chloe and Brooke feels like.”

“It’s just been a bad week - I don’t know, I swear we don’t usually fight!”

“Christine, if you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be human - you’d be a game show host.”

Christine laughed a little. “That’s a Heathers reference.”

Jenna smiled. “I have killer taste in 80’s movies.”

“It's a movie?”

She sighed. “You theater kids and your remakes. Someday, I will make you watch the original Heathers to prove to you that it's better.”

Christine wiped her eyes. “Would Saturday night work? For the movie, I mean.”

_Jesus christ, that went 0-100 real quick._

“Are - are you asking me out on a date?” (Jenna didn't want to admit how much she wanted her to say yes.)

“... maybe?”  

“Glad to see your mood changed. Well, I'd love to go on a date with you, Christine.”

“Wait, really?”

“Would I have said yes if the answer was no?”

“... probably not. So, Saturday - “

“Hold on,” Jenna interrupted. “If we're actually going on a date, I ought to take you out to dinner first or something.”

“Well, if two girls go on a dinner date, who pays?”

“Hetero culture says the restaurant.”

Christine laughed, getting up off the floor. “Thanks, by the way.”

Jenna stood up and brushed herself off. “No problem. Ready to go back in there and kick some ass?”

“Yeah. You’re welcome to watch, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I don’t know. It’s not super interesting.”

“I’m sure it’s amazing to watch. Have you run King of New York yet?”

“You know Newsies?”

“I watched it on Netflix the other day.”

“Works for me. No, we haven't run it yet, but the teacher loves me so I'm sure if I wanted to run King of New York, he'd let me. Jeremy walked out on rehearsal anyway, so we need to do a song or a scene without Jack in it, anyway.”

“Sounds great. Actually, give me a few minutes and then I'll be in there, okay?”

“Alright? See ya later then, Jenna.”

“Bye!”

Someday, Jenna was going to look back on her high school career and be very, very, disappointed in herself.

But for now, she had a bisexual theater kid to track down.

She said “track down” like the only reason he hadn’t left school grounds is that she’d cornered him and told him to stay put while she found Christine.

Okay, so maybe she had already known about what was wrong before she talked to Christine, but Jeremy was being annoyingly evasive and she had to be more interrogative to get the information she wanted - namely, why Jeremy and Christine had both left their favorite (and only) club five or ten minutes in.

“Jeremy! I can see you avoiding me!”

“Jesus christ, Jenna, is this really necessary?”

“Probably not. The real question is, do I care? I want you to go back in there.”

“And I already said no. She's being a selfish brat.”

“She just cried her eyes out in the school bathroom because of you. How many people have you dated before, Jeremy? Is there a reason for her to be used to this?”

“Well - I mean - “

“No. No, there is not, because the only other person you've dated is her.”

“Jenna, why is it so important to you to be all up in people's business?”

“Because it's not like they'll care about my business. Next point - get your ass back into that auditorium. You still love her, right? So swallow your pride, theater kid.”

Jeremy sighed. “Fine.”

“That was surprisingly easy.”

“Shut up, Jenna.”

“Mmm, no.”

“Fair enough. Hey, you're not dating Christine, are you?”

Jenna paused. “Not technically.”

“What went down in that bathroom then?”

“Just because you and your boyfriend have sex in the school bathrooms doesn't mean me and Christine will.”

“We have never had sex in the school bathroom!”

“Yet.”

“Shut up!”

Jenna offered her hand to Jeremy. “Truce?”

Jeremy laughed and shook her hand. “Oh, we're friends, Jenna. No truce needed.”

“Works for me. Now come on, you and Christine owe each other an apology.”

\-----

There were several things that had convinced Michael that he was completely, totally, absolutely _fucked._

Numbers one, two, and three were _why the fuck am I still attracted to other people I have a boyfriend who I love very much so why the shit did I think it was okay to kiss my best friend’s boyfriend because I thought he was cute and why do I still think Jake is cute I thought I got over that in grade ten but apparently not what the fuck is wrong with me -_

Okay, okay, calm down. The only thing he needed to do to fix this was to tell Jeremy the truth.

Well, like, half of the truth. There was a lot of “I still think this person is cute” that he was planning on excluding, but hey, he swears he’ll tell Jeremy the full truth once he could figure out what the hell is wrong with his brain and why it’s being an ungrateful fuck.

…He did, definitely, think that Rich and Jake were relatively attractive. Michael was terrible at shoving emotions away, so he was certain that he was attracted to both of them - which is what made him such a terrible boyfriend.

Sure, he loved - loves - Jeremy - but Michael had done about thirty hours of research on these feelings (something he’s not entirely sure what the point of was because he’s pretty sure he knows exactly what the issue is - there’s two options and one of them makes him seem like slightly less of a dick) and he’s ninety-nine percent sure that he can get over whatever he’s feeling for his other friends before he has to deal with any repercussions of it.

Oh, wait. He already does because he fucked up big time.

Might as well apologize.

He dialed Jeremy’s number and took a deep breath as the ringing started.

“Michael! Why’d you skip out on rehearsal?” Jeremy said.

“Ugh, sorry, I just had to make up that test. I'm really sorry, Jer.”

_Stupid - no, you're supposed to tell him the truth!_

“It's okay. Do you wanna hang out later today? After homework, of course.”

“Well, do you want to meet at that Starbucks down the street from my place? Coffee date and all that. Come on, Jer.”

The little voice in his head insisted that this was gonna be a terrible place to admit what had happened. Michael ignored it.

“Sure. I'll meet you over there at five?”

“Five it is. See you soon.”

“Love you, Michael.”

Pause.

“I love you too.”

Click.

He meant it, he really did. Michael was in love with Jeremy. Boyfs is canon, they're dating, he loves Jeremy with what he's pretty sure is every part of his heart.

So why does it feel like lying?

He’s not fucking lying.

Michael made it to the Starbucks before Jeremy did, so he picked a spot by the window, set his stuff down, and ordered a coffee. Jeremy came in five minutes later and sat down across from Michael, who smiled brightly.

“Hey, Jer!”

“You okay? You know I can tell when you’re doing that “something’s wrong so I’m going to be overly cheery” thing that you do.”

“Um, well, I’m fine.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Michael said quickly. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. What’s wrong?”

“I kissed Rich,” he muttered, making eye contact with his shoes.

“What?”

“I kissed Rich!” Michael blurted. “I’m so sorry, Jeremy.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m sorry - “

“Yeah, I get that, Michael. Why? Why would you do that?”

“I - “ Michael stuttered. “I don’t know, I mean, I know why, and I know why I thought it was a good idea, but it wasn’t really a good idea, and I just - I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah, no shit you weren’t thinking, that’s fucking cheating!”

“Well - “

“Did you kiss Jake too, huh? Might as well go two for two if you’re going to make out with my best friends!”

“Jer, calm down, I didn’t make out with Rich, I kissed him to try and calm him down - “

“Does Jake even know?”

“That’s not something I need to tell him, Rich can do that.”

“Well, did he kiss you back?”

Michael stayed silent.

“Answer the question, Michael.”

“Maybe?”

“Great. Great! So you’re both cheating."

“Oh, calm down, it’s not like I couldn’t see you checking out Jake’s ass onstage - “

“Why are we having this argument in the middle of a Starbucks?”

“Would you rather have it in front of one of our parents?”

“Well, no - “

“Exactly. So we’re having it now.”

“So why’d you make out with Rich?”

“I kissed him, and it was because I thought it would help him calm down. Why are you checking out Jake’s ass during the dances?”

“Because he’s kind of cute and you were being weird that day!”

“So why are you getting on me for kissing Rich?”

“For fuck's sake, it’s a different thing, Michael - “

“And I apologized! If you think Jake is cute, why is it such an issue that I thought Rich was cute?!”

“Why are we having this conversation in the middle of a Starbucks - “

“Oh, we went over that already!” Michael snapped. “Listen, I guess I haven’t been completely honest with you - “

“No, really?” Jeremy said, sarcastically.

“Would you calm down for a little bit? I was going to tell you that I’m fucking polyamorous, Jer, which I discovered through hours of research because I had no idea what was wrong with me, okay? I thought there was something fucking wrong with me.”

“I’m kind of having an issue here because I want to support you in coming out but I’m also still pretty pissed about that you kissed one of my friends.”

Michael put his face in his hands. “We have so many issues.”

Jeremy snorted. “True that.”

“We need to talk this out with Rich and Jake.”

“Yes, we do.”

So maybe they’re a little bit fucked up - but Michael and Jeremy are a great couple and they’ll work it out.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhh boy


	14. as the boys fall to pieces, the girls figure shit out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry i missed my update last week! i was really sick and i couldn't bring myself to write

Jake was pretty sure the universe absolutely hated him.

It was kind of like, hey Jake, just when you thought you'd finally got your life together and you were finally out and dating your crush, and your parents had come back and you'd gotten to say… well, not goodbye, but you got to see Christine Canigula go off at them, which was something Jake never thought he'd see, but no, can't ever catch a break, because you decide to take one day off and that's when everything goes to shit.

And he's not kidding. Every single good freaking thing that has happened to him in the past, what, two weeks since he… 

Well, shoot, it literally has been all downhill since he started talking to Michael and got himself involved in this whole damn mess. 

So maybe he can blame Michael…? 

Oh, of course he can blame Michael. 

Jeremy and Michael had asked Jake if they could come over to talk to him about something, and then he could decide what they did next.

Which was weird. And scary. Considering Rich had faked being asleep the last time Jake had gone to see him, something was up, and that never meant good things for Jake Dillinger. 

Jake’s thought process was interrupted by Jeremy’s voice growing louder as he walked up to the door (Jake was sitting on his couch) with who Jake was assuming was Michael. “And you're completely sure that this is the conversation you want to have?” 

“Yeah, yeah, course I'm sure. You know that this doesn't mean I love you any less, right?” Jeremy pushed open the door to Jake’s house (all of Jake's friends had keys in case they needed a home away from home for the night and Jake was out), though Michael and him stayed in the doorway, arguing.

“We had this goddam conversation, Michael, that's my line and I said that to you.” 

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” 

“Oh, shut up, you absolute dork.” 

“I'm your dork, Jer, and you're stuck with me.”

“Noooooo. My boyfriend, my greatest weakness.” 

Jake laughed, alerting both of them to his presence. 

Michael smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. We got a little caught up in our conversation.” 

“No, really?” Jake said, sarcastically. “So what did you guys want to talk to me about?”

“Um…” Jeremy started, then glanced over at Michael. “I think Mikey wanted to start?” 

“Oh, are we back to nicknames then?” Michael commented.

“Shush, yes, the fight is on day four or so and I've kind of stopped caring.” 

“Of course you're over it because we're here, aren't we?” 

“Guys,” Jake interrupted, exasperated. “Let's stay on track here, you two can fight like an old married couple later.” 

Michael rolled his eyes but relented. “Fine. So… first, give me a five-second head start if you're going to murder me, second… I may have kissed Rich at the hospital the day you skipped school?”

“You did what now?” 

Jeremy mumbled a “start running” to Michael, who hit him lightly on the arm. 

“I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have - “ 

“Damn straight you shouldn't have! Michael, that's my fucking boyfriend! I can't believe - Jeremy, how are you two not broken up? That's crazy! That's fucking cheating!” 

“Jake, don't you think we've had this argument? It's been four days - we've had this argument in every way you can imagine it. Let him explain himself and then yell at him, please. It doesn't justify what Michael did, but… it's an explanation, and that's a start. And personally, I wasn't exactly being a good and faithful boyfriend, either.” 

“That’s an understatement.”   


“You don’t get an opinion. You acted on it, I didn’t.”   


“Alright, first of all - “   


“Guys.”   


“Sorry, Jake,” they chorused. 

“So… am I just supposed to be like “Okay. That’s chill. You kissed my boyfriend, and you’re trying to justify it, but that’s okay’’?” Jake asked.

“No! No, I’m not saying that you have to forgive him, I’m just saying… hear him out.” Jeremy shrugged.    


“Fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. What reason do you have for kissing my boyfriend?”

“Okay, so, first, just so you don’t get mad at him, he didn’t really kiss back, but he kinda did, it was… “   


“Michael.”   


“Sorry, Jer. Not helping, I know. Second… damn it, Jeremy, I don’t know how to say this without making me sound like a dick.”   


“Yeah, that’s because what you did was dickish.”   


“Oh, really?” Michael said, sarcastically. “Hadn’t noticed. Look, Jake, I - Jeremy, can you please tell him?”   


“Nope. Figure it out.”   


“Fiiiiiiiiiine. Just so you know, you suck.”   


“You do too, hon.”   


“Mmkay. Anyway, Jake, I have an… issue… with crushes… as in, I have multiple and I don’t know how to deal with them.”   


There were several thoughts running through Jake’s mind currently. 

Number one: what the hell Michael that’s so not cool why the fuck did you kiss Rich and etcetera.

Number two: holy shit is he poly or something what the hell that would explain so many things but still that’s so…

Which led into number three, which was a small voice in his head that refused to shut up about how cute Jeremy looked in the sweater he was wearing. 

Bad voice in his head. That would make him a massive hypocrite. 

But back to their conversation. 

“So… what’s your point here, Michael? Do you have a crush on Rich?”   


“No…?”   


“Don’t lie,” Jeremy mumbled to him.    


“Fine. Yes. Like, I said, I’m not good at handling crushes.”   


“Wow, no shit, sherlock.” Jake rolled his eyes. “So you want me to not flip out on you because you have a crush on my boyfriend? Jeremy, how is this not a major issue for you?”   


“Because I have a crush on him too,” Jeremy said quietly. 

“That’s the thing, Jake. I love Jeremy, I really do, but… I can’t figure out what i’m supposed to do. Mostly because he’s decided he’s in the same shithole of a problem.”

“Not decided. I know I’m in the same mess.”   


“Yeah, because you didn’t fight back when I called you out for checking out Jake’s ass during rehearsals - “   


“Do not bring that up in front of him, you dork - “   


“Tame insult for someone who’s totally not denying it - “   


“I never said I was denying it - “   


“COULD YOU TWO PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP FOR FIVE SECONDS SO I CAN FIGURE THIS OUT!?” Jake yelled, completely done with Michael and Jeremy’s bickering. “Both of you. You’re arguing every fifteen seconds and I can’t fucking think straight - do not  make a joke out of that - do you both have a crush on Rich?”   


Jeremy nodded, then proceeded to hit Michael on the shoulder until he nodded. Jake sighed. 

“And do either of you have a crush on me?”   


“Um, yeah, both of us. Mostly Jeremy, though - “ Michael giggled a little.   


“Shut up, you asshole.”

Jake sank back into the couch. “This is confusing. I blame both of you.”   


“That’s fair.”   


“What am I supposed to do?”   


\-----

Something was up with Chloe.

Brooke was certain of it - she’d been acting weird all week, and despite the fact that everything she knew and loved was falling apart (the lunch table had been reduced to three people: the three girls) Chloe was the one consistency about her life. 

Sure, she was spiteful, and mean, and petty as shit, but Brooke… she loved her. She loved Chloe. 

So therefore, she was going to have to hunt Chloe Valentine down if her life depended on it.

First idea: call her. 

Brooke dialed her number, and as per usual, Chloe picked up immediately. 

“What’s up, Brookie?”   


“Yo. You want to hang out?”   


“Actually… yeah, I have some stuff to talk to you about. Can you head over to my house or do you need a ride?”   


“Oh, I’m just over by Pinkberry, so I’ll be there in five minutes. See ya, love ya!”   


“See ya, love ya.”

Hey, at least the goodbye never changed. 

Brooke rang Chloe’s doorbell almost exactly five minutes later. Chloe answered, wearing her usual weekend clothes, which Brooke should have been used to by now - but for some reason the usual sports bra and sweatpants felt different. 

“Hey, Brookie! What’s up? I was doing my nails, do you wanna come join me?”   


“Yeah! You said you had something to tell me?”   


“Mmm, yeah, I do. Let’s go upstairs.”   


Brooke followed Chloe upstairs, running possible situations through her head. Once they got upstairs to Chloe’s bedroom, she took her usual spot next to the bed and leaned back against it. “So, what’s up? Is it bad?” Brooke gasped. “Are you pregnant?”   


“What? No, no, don’t be ridiculous. I just… I have a lot of apologies that I owe you, don’t I? I treated you so badly. Treat you so badly. Jake convinced me - “   


“You’re not getting back together with him, right?”   


“No, he’s dating Rich. He convinced me that I should start seeing a therapist and that I needed to fix some of my bad habits like… being a complete bitch.”

“Aw, you’re not a bitch, Chlo!”   


“...no, I’m literally diagnosed with anger issues and shit like that. Ergo, a complete bitch. I’m just trying to say that I’m sorry for making you follow me around like a kicked puppy. I treated you like shit, Brookie. Really, I did. I am so, so, sorry.”   


Brooke scooted over and hugged her best friend. “Apology accepted. You know I’ll always love you, right?”   


Chloe snuggled closer to Brooke. “I love you too. And thank god I hadn’t actually started my nails yet.”   


Brooke laughed. The two of them sat together, just enjoying each other’s company for a while. Eventually, Chloe spoke up. 

“Is this weird for you?”   


“Why would it be weird?”   


“Well, if you know I’m gay, aren’t you kind of weirded out by cuddling with a lesbian girl?”   


“... I’m pan.”   


“So… it’s not weird?”   


“No, it’s not weird, Chloe. I love you, remember?”

“I… love you too.”   


“Is something wrong?”   


Chloe leaned her head on Brooke’s shoulder. “No. I don’t know how to tell you how much I love you in words.”   


Brooke smiled. “It’s okay. I already know.”

“God, what did I do to deserve you?”   


“You just happened to be yourself.”   


“I - “   


“You love me. I know.”

“I was gonna say that I really want to kiss you right now.”   


“I do not object to that,” Broke said, pressing her lips to Chloe’s. 

The two of them sat there, on the floor in Chloe’s bedroom, kissing, and kissing and kissing until finally, Brooke’s phone rang. 

“Sorry, Chlo, I better pick this up - what does Jenna want from me right now?”   


Brooke picked up the call. “Hey, Jen, what’s up? Make it quick, though, I’m in the middle of something… important.”   


“Okay, are you with Chloe?”   


“...yes. What do you need?”

“Put me on speakerphone, then. Chlo, Brooke, I need date advice!”   


Chloe scooted closer to Brooke. “The make-out sesh can wait. Jen, you have a date? With who?”   


“Christine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this dramatic ending is super unnecessary because everyone knew that already


	15. everyone is happy!!! yay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> second to last chapter...
> 
> don't worry i won't get sappy till the epilogue

Rich put his face in his hands. “You know, I really thought that the day I got out of this fucking place would be happy, but you know, you three have to ruin it. Full offense, by the way.”   


“You didn’t have to be rude about it - “ Michael started.

“Hells yeah I did, you complete idiot! This is your fault!”

“Mmmm, that’s debatable.”

“No, Michael, it is your fault,” Jeremy said, and Jake and Rich muttered agreement. 

“Fine.” Michael relented.

“Guys. I am literally skipping out on my favorite part of the day, and missing teasing my best friend about her date, because we decided to have this discussion. The least you can do is  _ stay on topic _ ,” Jeremy said, exasperated. “Michael, I love you, but this is completely your fault. Jake, please, we had this fucking conversation already, just… sit and calm down. Rich, stop insulting Michael. You're not helping. Now, Rich, quick question, and Jake, do not kill him: did you actually kiss Michael back or is he just trying to cover his ass?” 

“Jeremy!” 

“Shut it, Mikey.” 

“I kissed him back for a second,” Rich mumbled. “For the record, I really do regret it and I love Jake, but… yeah.” 

Jake shut his eyes tight. “I thought I couldn't ever feel more useless than when my parents left me. Turns out, I was wrong.” 

Rich bit his lip. “Jeremy, Michael, can you leave?”

Michael opened his mouth to speak, but Jeremy tugged on his arm and started to get up, and Michael followed. Once they were alone in the room, Rich turned to Jake.

“Jakey, is that - is that really how you feel? You're not useless! I swear!” 

Jake smiled slightly, though his eyes were still sad. “I guess, yeah. You made me feel like I meant something to someone - and then you kissed Michael and all of a sudden, I was just… replaceable.” 

Rich was downright speechless. “I - “ 

“It's okay, though. I get it. You're not trying to make me feel that way, I know.” 

“I shouldn't have made you feel that way at all! I'm your boyfriend, Jake!” 

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Rich, you're actually a really amazing person, and I'm glad that so many people are interested in you, and I guess I'm a little flattered that people are still interested in me, but…” 

“You don't like Michael and Jeremy’s plan to merge our two relationships?” Rich made a face. “Saying it out loud makes me like the idea less.” 

Jake laughed. “I don't hate it, and I'm not completely averse to it, but the thing is, I've never really understood how relationships like these work, so my mind is constantly like, ‘hey, if you date three people there's no way everyone loves each other equally’ and shit.” 

“Well, okay, I don't exactly understand it either, so… all I can do is promise that dating two other people at the same time doesn't mean I love you any less.”

Jake smiled softly. “Thanks. That means a lot.” 

“Mhmm. Now get over here, I'm going to hug you and I don't care how much it hurts.” 

“Wait, aren't you - “ 

“Well, I do get to walk - pause for dramatic effect -  out of here today.” 

“Rich!” 

Rich grinned. “I may have conveniently left that out.” 

“Conveniently.” Jake sighed. “So? Physical therapy is paying off?” 

“Yeah! Ah, Jake, you have no idea how good it felt to get out of that bed the first time.”

“No, I've never burnt down a house before and landed myself in the hospital.” 

“Low blow. That was a low-ass blow.” 

“Eh, you deserved it.” 

“Bull,” Rich said, dragging out the ‘l’ sound. “I did not.”

“Mmkay, Richie. Am I allowed to stay for therapy?” 

“Yeah! They actually said I should try and have someone here - well, they said I should get my dad or my brother, but I was like ‘no, fuck that’ so I told them I would ask my boyfriend to stay and help out, and the physical therapist stared at me like I'd grown a second head. So… there's that.”

“Your physical therapist is homophobic?” 

“Mhmm.” 

Jake rolled his eyes. “Course. I'll text Michael and Jeremy and tell them to leave.” 

“And?”

“And that we'll date them,” Jake mumbled.

“There we go.”

It felt amazing to walk out of the hospital on Jake’s arm. It did take a solid five hours to get out of the hospital (fucking paperwork) but… he did it. 

And no. No one cried. Didn't happen. Shut up.

It had been a month since he'd seen anything besides that damn hospital room, Jake, Jeremy, and Michael.

Oh god, he hadn't seen Chloe or Brooke or Jenna in a month. (Well, now that he was thinking about it, that was more their fault than his.) Chloe had reached out to him a couple weeks ago, and they'd been talking since. It felt… strange, to say the least, to chat with Chloe now - Jake’s reform thingy had really paid off, she was much kinder and only bitchy if someone deserved it. That wasn't to say she was perfect now, there was no way that she'd fixed all her problems in two and a half weeks. 

Brooke, on the other hand, hadn't changed at all - she was still her bubbly, awesome self. She'd called a couple times, wished him a good recovery, and promised to save him a spot at the table when he got back. 

Jenna, amazingly, had backed off the rumors when Rich asked her to. And, apparently, she was dating Christine now. Which was different, considering Rich had always thought she had a crush on Brooke. 

Eh. Whatever. 

“Jakey,” Rich said, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, “you have no idea how much I've missed this.”

“I don't. I really don't. So, random question about the burns - ” 

“They're scars. They'll be there forever. Why, are they a turn-off or something?” Rich laughed without humor. “I can't get rid of them, no matter what.”

“No, no, nothing like… that, I was just curious.” 

“Yeah. I guess I'm just scared that I'll get made fun of for them.” 

Jake gave him a quick kiss. “Well, I can't vouch for every other kid at Middleborough, but I promise that  none of us - your friends - will ever,  _ ever _ , make fun of the scars.”

“That means a lot.” 

He smiled at Rich. “It's true. Now, shall we see if we can meet our boyfriends out for dinner?” 

“Let's.”

Jake walked Rich over to the car, neither boy looking back.

\-----  _ end of the boys’ stories _ \-----

Christine was on her way to pick Jenna up when Something To Believe In came on.

Insignificant to most, but the two of them had a deal: don't sing along without the other person there. 

And yet… 

Christine started singing. She left the Jack part alone, of course, but she didn't follow the arbitrary rule they'd set - though it didn't feel like such a big deal anymore. 

It was a stupid song. But it felt like some chapter ending in her life - she didn't need to depend on Jeremy as much, didn't need to make it the Jeremy and Christine show. 

Who knows. Maybe it was Michael that changed it. Maybe it was Jenna. But it didn't all come down to her and Jeremy anymore. 

Or maybe it was just a stupid song, and it didn't signify anything.

Christine pulled up to Jenna’s house, switching her music off. Jenna, who was yelling at who Christine assumed was her dad or older brother, waved to her through the window before running through the front door to Christine’s car. She hopped in the car, shutting the passenger side door behind her. 

“Sorry about that! They didn't believe I actually had a date.” 

Christine chuckled. “I know the feeling. It would have been me being hassled by my little sisters for having a date had you actually followed through on picking me up.” 

“I don't have a car, Christine.” 

“I'm just kidding.”

“Hey, so, I called Brooke and Chloe for date advice earlier and - “

“Hold on, you what now?” 

“Long story. I'm pretty sure they're dating now.” 

Christine sighed. “Good for them. I'm instituting a new rule: no gossip about our friends tonight. Just everyone else. I wanna hear your story on Dustin getting caught with weed, I’m gonna tell it at the next Thanksgiving dinner and see how that turns out.” 

“Wha…”

“He's my cousin. Anyways - “ 

“Christine?” 

“Mhmm?” 

“How about we just go on our date?”

“Oh. Sounds good.”

They sat in silence for a couple moments, before Christine spoke up and said, “Did your parents think it was okay that you went on a date with a girl?”

Jenna didn't respond.

“Jen?”

“No, they weren't okay with it. They… don't exactly like me, my family. They're not abusive or anything! They - my mom and my dad - just don't approve of the choices I've made.” 

“...like being a lesbian? Because that's not really a choice - “

“No, like something else. I… we’ll talk about it later. I just want to enjoy tonight.”   


“Well, I'll make sure you do.”

“You're so sweet.”

Christine smiled. “I do it for you.”

After the dinner date, they went back to Christine’s place (Christine’s mom had taken her little sisters out for the night) and watched Heathers at Jenna’s insistence. By the end of the movie, they were cuddling on Christine’s couch, Jenna nearly asleep. 

“Christine?” Jenna mumbled, shifting against Christine’s side.   


“Yeah?”   


“You’re really awesome.”   


“You’re awesome-er.”   


Jenna leaned her head into Christine’s shoulder. “I know we’re not gonna have sex on the first date, but I do need to tell you that I am trans, so…”   


“It’s okay. You’re fine. And no, we’re not having sex. You can sleep here, though. My mom said it’s fine.” Christine snuggled closer to Jenna. 

Jenna yawned. “Then I’m going to sleep.”   


Christine laughed. “Goodnight, Jen.”   


“G’night, Chrissy.”   


It only took about ten minutes before Christine felt Jenna’s chest rising and falling against her side.

The next morning, Christine woke up still snuggled up with Jenna. The other girl was still sleeping, so Christine got up slowly and carefully to try not to wake her up. She grabbed her phone, which displayed 25 new texts from Brooke, 19 from Chloe, and 6 missed calls each. When she glanced at it quickly, Jenna’s phone showed around the same. 

Christine dialed Brooke, hoping she'd pick up despite the fact it was semi-early.

Brooke picked up immediately. “OMG, how'd your date with Jenna go?”

“How…?”

Brooke giggled. “She called Chloe and me for advice.” 

“Were 25 texts and 6 calls necessary?” 

“No. Do I care? Also no.”

Christine sighed. “It went well. She's still sleeping, so - “

Brooke squealed. “She slept at your place, huh?” 

“Yeah, but, like, not in a sexual way. She just fell asleep here.”

Christine could practically feel Brooke’s eyebrows raised through the phone. “Sure. Here, I'm going to put Chloe on. I slept over there, and I do mean in a somewhat sexual way.” 

“Ewww. Wait, with Chloe, though? Hold on - “ 

“Here's Chlo!” There was a flurry of noise as, presumably, the phone was passed over to Chloe. 

“Hey, Chrissy! Ignore Brookie, we didn't actually sleep together last night. She's getting me back for telling Jake we did. Anyways, congrats on the date!” 

“Wha - “ 

Chloe laughed. “I'm a totally different person now. I'm sorry for being such a bitch, please forgive me. Also, I'm really sorry I kept calling theatre gay behind your back, as a lesbian, that was uncool.” 

“Wow, I - thanks. I forgive you.”

Words she never thought she would say.

Jenna stirred next to Christine, so she said a quick goodbye to Chloe and went to say good morning. 

No need to look back on and regret what she'd done this weekend. 

\-----  _ end of the girls’ stories _ \-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't cry during this chapter. just while writing the epilogue anD IT'S NOT EVEN SAD


	16. epilouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i didn't cry while writing this

The auditorium door slammed shut behind Jeremy as he raced towards the stage. Jake and Christine rolled their eyes as he jumped up on stage, breathing hard. 

“You slammed the door,” Christine said. 

“Oh, shut up,” Jeremy muttered.

Jake motioned for them to head backstage. Michael greeted them with a cheery wave and their respective costumes. Jake had turned out as an amazing Crutchie - and a pretty damn good boyfriend too. The relationship of the four boys was still going strong, as were Christine and Jenna and Brooke and Chloe. 

“You’re late,” Michael said, handing Jake his costume.

“We are not,” Christine retorted, taking her Katherine costume from him as well.

“Are too. Reyes nearly flipped his shit when he saw you three weren’t here yet. Scared the hell out of the poor girl playing Finch.”   


“The wonders of traffic. Though, thanks for grabbing our costumes. Are the other four coming?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah. You should have seen the fight Chlo and Brooke got into over whether or not to go.” Jake chuckled. 

“Chloe still having anger issues?”   


Jake nodded. “The therapy seems to be working, though. She hadn’t gone off like that in weeks.”   


Christine jumped up and down. “I’m so excited! We’ve been working so hard on this. Did Jenna make it?”   


“Yes, of course.”   


“Rich?” Michael asked.

“Mhmm. Made sure of that myself.”   


“Are you guys ready or what?!” Jeremy cheered, laughing.

“Yeah!” Christine giggled. “Michael, you’re not going to trip again, are you?”   


“One time!”   


“Thirty times!” She stifled another laugh.

“I still have a bunch of costumes to deliver. Diaz… I don’t know who that is.”   


“Rosa. Rosa is her first name - she’s background like you. Phenomenal dancer. Black hair, leather jacket.”   


“Thanks, Chrissy!” Michael waved. “I’ll catch y’all later.”   


“Bye, Mikey,” Jeremy said. Jake, who was busy on his phone, just waved.

“Does anyone else feel like screaming?” Christine asked. “I really feel like screaming. I’m just so happy!”   


“I’m happy too, but I don’t feel like screaming, Chris.” Jeremy laughed. 

“It must be an ADD thing.”   


“I think it’s a Christine thing, to be honest.”   


“Shush, Jeremy.”   


“Never.”   


Jake glanced up from his phone. “Hm?”   


“Not talking to you. Why are you still staring at your phone?”   


“Ever since Chloe let me back up into the top, my social media has gotten a lot more popular.”   


“And?”   


“People want to talk to me and I don’t know where the mute button is.”   


“Just turn off the notifications.”   


“How do I do that?”   


Christine laughed. “Dude, even I know how to do that and I barely use my phone. Come on.”   


“Sorry!”   


“We really need to go get changed,” Jeremy interrupted. “We only have fifteen minutes.”   


Christine nodded. “Hey. Hey Jeremy. Do you remember when I called Michael your soulmate?”   


“Did you mean, one of the most embarrassing moments of my life?”   


“Yeah, that one. I was right. You have more than one soulmate, sure, but… maybe that day was a prophecy.”   


“Bullshit.”   


“Yeah, okay.”   


Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Chris, I love you and all, but… _ no. _ ”

“Fine.”

Jake put his phone away. “Let’s get this show on the road, people. See you two on stage.”   


“Oh! Jeremy, your hair’s still up.” Christine undid the clip. “Okay, we’re good. I love you both, see you later!”

Maybe their stories are over.

Maybe the relationships won’t last. 

Maybe the show gets all screwed up and Christine never gets on Broadway. 

But that’s not gonna happen. 

The show must go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check that b99 character name reference 
> 
> sap time!
> 
> i... can't believe how much of a journey this has been. you're all amazing, and i love you all for reading - stay awesome!
> 
> check out: How To Make It In New York and Divided - by me and my bff cadence (@amusicacltrashcan) respectively!
> 
> now i gtg before i cry

**Author's Note:**

> ahahaha if eryn sees this im sorry for screwing with your plot


End file.
